Yesterday’s UFC 177 had a short but fast-paced women’s bantamweight bout between Bethe Correia and Shayna Baszler. The undefeated Bethe Correia soundly trounced Baszler in a two-round fight that was fast and brutal. Early in, Correia hurt her opponent and then began an onslaught of bodywork, moving so fast and raising to her head often enough that Baszler had no defense. The referee, seeing the damage being done, called the fight and gave a win by technical knockout to Bethe Correia before the round was over.
The hardcore display of one-sided pounding was a combination of things. Bleacher Report says that, although Baszler was the favorite, it was only marginally so. She being past her prime and having never learned to really duke it out, mastering submissions instead, put her on the defensive from the get-go as Bethe Correia made sure to keep the fight all about fists and knees.
This match was the second taken against the championship UFC team of Ronda Rousey; the previous match saw Bethe Correia soundly defeating Jessamyn Duke a few weeks ago.
After the win, Correia made sure to loudly call out current bantamweight champion Rousey in a challenge for the title. The Los Angeles Times says that the 9-win fighter from Brazil is now ranked tenth in women’s bantamweight at UFC. Reportedly, Rousey sent a text to her friend demanding a fight with Bethe “before somebody else beats her.”
That text was to UFC President Dana White, who told MMA Junkie that “there is a list” of women up to challenge Rousey for the title. Although Bethe Correia’s name is on that list, it’s not at the top. For now, the UFC Pres is looking to maximize publicity, and says that rivalries aren’t what will do that. Instead, there may be several options, including bringing some front-runners out of their television careers to take on the champ. Either way, White made it clear that Bethe Correia is not the next challenger for Rousey.
Here are some quick highlights of the Bethe Correia vs Shayna Baszler match, courtesy of UFC on Fox .
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpNIYcjYgxA