Brazilian rising star Bethe “Pitbull” Correia kept her undefeated record intact with a well-deserved victory tonight at UFC 172: “Jones vs Teixeira” in Baltimore, Maryland. Correia earned a Unanimous Decision win over TUF 18 competitor Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke on tonight’s preliminary card.
Correia showcased her underrated striking skills throughout the three-round bout and she repeatedly scored with leg kicks and quick punches that kept the much taller Duke guessing. Duke had success with throws, but Correia countered with takedowns of her own en route to an impressive victory.
Correia (8-0-0) set the tone early on with a series of kicks that caused Duke’s left leg to turn red. Duke (3-1-0, 1 NC) answered with a one-two, but Correia remained effective on the feet by mixing up her strikes. She landed more punches and leg kicks and defended well against Duke’s knees in the clinch. Duke got Correia down very briefly, but Correia quickly stood and the fighters traded punches. Duke landed a nice combination and Correia closed out the round with more leg kicks.
The second round began with more punches from Correia, who chopped away at Duke’s lead leg with kicks. Duke scored a takedown and tried for a guillotine choke in a scramble, but Correia wound up on top. She passed to side control and took Duke’s back, but Duke battled back to her feet. She tripped Correia once more, but Correia stood and punished Duke with leg kicks and overhand rights.
Correia continued to score at will with punches in the final round and Duke struggled to find her range. Correia landed more leg kicks and she broke free of a clinch with a four-punch flurry. She backed Duke up with punches and Duke responded with a takedown. Correia scrambled out the back and she wound up in Duke’s guard. The fighters were stood up and Correia stuffed a takedown before the bell.
One judge scored the fight 29-28 in Correia’s favour, while the remaining two both had it 30-27 for the Brazilian. With tonight’s Unanimous Decision win, Correia kept her unblemished record intact and she also sent a message to the rest of the “Four Horsewomen” stable that is comprised of Duke, UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, Shayna “The Queen of Spades” Baszler and “The Supernova From Moldova” Marina Shafir.
Winner: Bethe Correia by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after three rounds. She improves to 8-0-0.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
If you counted her loss to Miriam Nakamoto (which was overturned to a NC), and her loss to Raquel Pennington on TUF, Jessamyn Duke would be 3-3 now.
This is a very important victory for Correia, who is actually a flyweight and, maybe, could even fight at strawweight (I guess she walks around at the same weight as Gadelha… they are about the same size).
It’d be interesting if she punished Baszler next. At this point, I think Rousey beats her, though.
^^^ Why is every girl 5’6 and under considered flyweights or strawweights? Bethe is looking really good at 135 plus she beats most of those girls in the ufc top 10. She doesnt need to move to 125. No way she makes 115 with that that kaboose lol.
*thick
She used to fight as a flyweight before going to the UFC, that’s why.
Well she fought erica paes at 135 so her ultimate goal was to fight at 135. She has had great success there so to me she is a natural 135. But she would for sure be a beast at 125 if she could make the weight again.