Rhonda Rousey only Needs 14 Seconds in UFC 184
01 Mar, 2015
Ronda Rousey has stopped every opponent she has faced in her meteoric mixed martial arts career, so a first-round victory is no shock for the UFC’s bantamweight champion.
Except nobody had finished a UFC title fight this quickly, and hardly anyone had ever done it with so much flair.
Rousey stopped Cat Zingano with an acrobatic armbar after just 14 seconds, dramatically defending her 135-pound title at UFC 184 on Saturday night.
Rousey’s fifth title defense before the sellout Staples Center crowd could process what it just witnessed. Those 14 seconds were action-packed, and Rousey delivered again.
“There’s very few situations where a fight goes 14 seconds and the crowd is cheering and going crazy and looking at each other with their mouths open,” UFC President Dana White said.
Rousey (11-0) earned the most impressive victory of her career with jaw-dropping speed, taking out the previously unbeaten Zingano with her signature armlock from an unlikely position.
Zingano (9-1) dropped Rousey on her head with a flying charge at the opening bell, but the champ used her peerless judo skills to flip Zingano onto her back. Rousey scampered into position to wrench Zingano’s arm grotesquely – and just like that, the challenger tapped out.
Rousey’s last three fights have lasted a total of 96 seconds, including two bouts against previously unbeaten opponents. Her 14-second finish was a record for any UFC title bout, but she thought it only went to plan.
“She’s really good … but that wouldn’t happen again,” Zingano said. “It was a knee and then a throw and then a scramble, and then she was wrapped around my arm. I got caught. I was ready to do a million different things. I planned on getting in a fistfight tonight.”
For the first time in UFC history, two women’s fights headlined a pay-per-view event. Although partly created by necessity when middleweight champion Chris Weidman was injured, that spotlight is the latest affirmation for women’s MMA and Rousey – a movie star, a model and a celebrity who can sell out a large arena in her hometown.
AP
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