Ronda Rousey (7-0) confirmed her reputation as one of the UFC’s biggest stars by defending her bantamweight title belt against Liz Carmouche (7-3) at UFC 157 in Anaheim, CA, on Saturday night.
Carmouche was not intimidated in the least and nearly threw the script out of the window when she had Rousey in a rear naked choke early in the first round. The 26-year-old somehow escaped the hold, but Carmouche had engineered a good fight plan and was causing Rousey some discomfort early in the fight.
However, Rousey’s strength told as the round went on and when she maneuvered herself into the armbar position, it was curtains for Carmouche, who tapped out with 4:49 gone in the first stanza.
“One thing I had to learn in MMA the is to be patient and take my time. I only had a few seconds and I had to keep a very clear hard and try and do it perfectly on the first try,” said Rousey to Joe Rogan in the cage after the fight.
“I thought I had it,” said Carmouche after the fight. “Like everything, you make a mistake, and it turns around. I thought I was going to get her with the neck crank.”
In the co-main event, light Heavyweight Dan Henderson lost a split decision to Lyoto Machida and earlier in the night, bantamweight Urijah Faber defeated Ivan Menjivar in the first round via a rear naked choke.
However, the night was all about the first women’s UFC bout and the official coronation of Ronda Rousey, who was installed as bantamweight champion before a punch was thrown, as ruling queen of the sport. With a reported crowd of 15,525 in attendance, fight fans have taken to the new champ in a big way.
So who’s next for the beautiful Rousey? The 2008 Olympic judo bronze medalist told MMA Live her immediate plans. “I am going to be going to the TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) finale to watch Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano in the second women’s UFC fight. I’d be very interested in taking on the winner of those two.”
