Rousey Defends Title In Just 34 Seconds

Ronda Rousey managed to retain her Ultimate Fighting Championship Women’ s Bantamweight Title after she knocked out Brazilian challenger Bethe Correia in just 34 seconds.

The event, officially title UFC 190: Rousey vs Correia, took place in Rio de Janeiro at HSBC Arena. In the opening matches the crowd of over 14,000 watched the finals of the lightweight and bantamweight categories of the UFC-produced reality show The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4, which were won by Reginaldo Vieira and Glaico Franca respectively.

But the much expected main event of the night lasted little over half a minute, as an initial barrage of hits by Rousey caught Correia unprepared. As the Brazilian desperately tried to evade, Rousey continued her flurry of attacks and knocked Correia out cold with a right hook to the head, keeping her Women’s Bantamweight Title.

Rousey took her mixed martial arts record up to 12-0, with this being her seventh consecutive title defense. More impressive than that is the fact that her last three title defenses lasted a total of 64 seconds, as she previously defeated Cat Zingano in February by submission in 14 seconds and Alexis Davis in July 2014 by KO in 14 seconds. Rousey had only match in her UFC career last more than one round, as she defeated rival Miesha Tate at UFC 168 in December 2013 by submission with less than a minute left of round 3.

After the match, Rousey paid homage to wrestling legend Rowdy Rowdy Piper, who died on Friday after suffering a heart attack. She took her “Rowdy” fighting nickname from Piper, who gave his acceptance on it when they met during one of Rousey’s WWE appearances.

Questions now rise as to who, if ever, is going to be capable of stopping Rousey from her domination of the Bantamweight division. Pundits are mostly expecting that her next match would be against long time rival Miesha Tate, the only one of her past opponents who ever looked capable of posing her problems. Rousey had initially won her championship from Tate at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey in 2012, when it was known as the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship.

The fight, which would draw up massive hype due to the rivalry between the two, could possibly be scheduled for December at Arlington’s AT&T Stadium, co-headlining an UFC event alongside a men’s title bout. Tate guaranteed that she wouldn’t have the same fate as Correia in a post-match tweet meant to both provoke Rousey and raise enthusiasm for the potential bout.

Image Source: Yahoo