‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey Makes it Look Easy

02 Aug, 2015

 It’s not a good idea to give Ronda Rousey some extra motivation.

Hurt by comments about her family and moved by the death of a close friend and idol, Rousey got off to a quick start and knocked out home-crowd favorite Bethe Correia only 34 seconds into the first round at UFC 190 on Saturday night.

Rousey defended her bantamweight title by throwing a rapid sequence of punches at the Brazilian’s head, landing a combination of right and left strikes that sent her opponent face-first into the ground and disappointed the local fans packing the HSBC Arena.

It was yet another impressive performance by Rousey, who improved to 12-0 in her incredible MMA career.

She has been crushing her opponents inside the octagon, but this victory seemed special.

Rousey came into the fight upset with Correia after the Brazilian made a comment apparently referencing to Rousey’s father’s suicide. Rousey said Correia crossed the line, so she would try to embarrass her in front of her fans.

“I hope that nobody really brings up my family anymore when it comes to fights,” she said. “I hope this is the last time.”

Before the fight, Correia had said she didn’t know about what happened to Rousey’s father and never intended to attack her personally.

Rousey also was extra motivated after the death of Hall of Fame wrestler Roddy Piper, who was one her greatest idols and inspired her to take the “Rowdy” nickname. She had said she would be fighting for him.

“We’ve lost a really close friend, `Rowdy’ Roddy Piper, who gave me his permission to use his name as a fighter, so I hope he and my dad had a good time watching this today,” Rousey said.

The UFC’s biggest star, Rousey arrived in Rio as the overwhelming favorite against Correia (9-1) after winning her previous three title defenses in a combined 96 seconds. She needed only 14 seconds to beat Cat Zingano at UFC 184 earlier this year.

AP

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