UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey retained her title in an amazing fight tonight at UFC 168: “Weidman vs Silva 2” in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rousey submitted bitter rival Miesha “Cupcake” Tate with her signature armbar in tonight’s highly entertaining co-main event.
For the first time in her young mixed martial arts career, Rousey had to fight beyond the opening round in the much-anticipated rematch with Tate, but she controlled most of the action-packed fight on the ground. Early in round three, Rousey transitioned to a tight armbar that forced Tate to submit.
Rousey (8-0-0) clinched after a brief exchange of punches and dragged Tate (13-5-0) to the mat, but Tate quickly scrambled back to her feet. Rousey pinned her against the cage and landed knees, then caught a kick and took the fight to the ground again. Tate locked on a triangle choke from her back and Rousey slammed free. Tate stood and took Rousey down, but she soon had to fight off a triangle choke herself. Rousey landed elbows while trapping Tate in the hold, but the challenger eventually escaped.
As the round progressed, Tate scored with some solid punches on the feet that backed Rousey up, but the champion emphatically threw Tate to the ground and landed in mount. She worked for an armbar until Tate scrambled free and stood up. Rousey secured another takedown and she punched from top position until late in the round when Tate battled back to her feet. Another combination from Rousey concluded the round, which was met by a standing ovation from the crowd in attendance.
In round two, Rousey landed a quick combination and took Tate down, but Tate landed upkicks from her back that prevented Rousey from passing her guard. Rousey scored more takedowns as the round progressed and she eventually wound up on top in side control. Tate countered by wrapping her legs around Rousey’s head in search of an armbar, but Rousey escaped into mount. She rained down punches that forced Tate to roll to her side and Rousey transitioned from an armbar to an inverted triangle choke before the end of the round.
Early in the third round, Rousey attempted a takedown, but Tate reversed on the way down and briefly held top position. Rousey countered by moving to take her back, and she latched on to Tate’s left arm. Rousey rolled through with an armbar and wrenched back on Tate’s arm for the tapout victory at the 58-second mark of round three.
Tonight’s fight marked the first time that Rousey had been out of the first round, but the bout ended in the same manner as each of Rousey’s previous ten amateur and professional fights. The Olympic bronze medallist judoka has submitted all 11 of her MMA opponents to date with her signature armbar.
Winner: Ronda Rousey by Submission (Armbar) at 0:58 of round three. She improves to 8-0-0 and remains the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
Miesha had Ronda in full mount, but wasn’t patient enough to work from that position.
Also, Ronda reversed all takedown defenses by Tate, but one… that gave her all the advantages she needed, as she is very aggressive from the top.
I think the fight will end differently against McMann, who is as aggressive and fast, and even stronger than Rousey.
Let’s wait and see.
McMann is aggressive and fast, but she’s faced such limited opposition in her MMA career. The only significant name she’s beaten is Baszler, and that was a close 3 round decision win. I think Rousey’s immense skill together with the scale and pressure of headlining a UFC PPV will prove too much even for McMann. It’s just too much too soon for Sarah, whereas Rousey’s now well accustomed to the pressure.