Someone's "0" has to go in the main event of UFC 190 in Brazil. Undefeated women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (11-0) will defend her title against Brazilian striker and undefeated challenger Bethe Correia (9-0). Here's a look at the tale of the tape.
By most accounts, Rousey is going to have her way with Correia. Beyond the fact that Rousey is the bigger, more athletic and more skilled fighter, Correia has also made Rousey angry with controversial comments about suicide.
Rousey, whose father took his own life, took offense to the comments, and she has promised to try to humiliate Correia. Correia claims she didn't know about Rousey's family history and apologized when she was made aware in the video below from USA Today:
In this video interview with Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting, Rousey rejected the apology:
In the Octagon, we've got a compelling but potentially one-sided main event on the way. Here's how the two women compare stylistically and statistically.
Striking
The stand-up game was once viewed as a weakness for Rousey, but she has worked diligently to make herself a weapon on her feet. She stopped Sara McMann with a knee to the midsection and also displayed some solid striking against Alexis Davis.
Rousey lands 3.66 strikes per minute in her fights. That's decent, but two factors likely drag down those numbers: Her average fight time is only 2:39, and her judo and submission skills still anchor her game. To put it plainly, she's an even better striker than the numbers indicate.
Defensively, Rousey could be a little better. Her striking defense is just 53 percent. The thing that makes her so difficult to beat—even with flawed striking defense—is that there are few, if any, 135-pound fighters with enough power to make her pay for taking their shots.
Correia is on par with Rousey as a striker, but her lack of length and power will make it tough to gain an advantage in stand-up exchanges. In her career, she's landed 6.07 strikes per minute and defended 66 percent of the attacks.
She's clearly a volume striker, but Rousey's dominance may not give Correia an opportunity to do damage with cumulative punishment.
Advantage: Slightly in Rousey's favor.
Grappling
This category is a total wipeout, as it would be with Rousey pitted against any opponent in the world. Nine of her 11 wins have come by submission, and quite honestly, all of them could have been via armbar had she wanted to end the Davis and McMann fights in that manner.
She has a 72 percent takedown accuracy, and her 60 percent takedown defense is irrelevant. No one wants to take Rousey to the mat. If she's down, it's probably because she wanted to be there.
Correia does have an excellent takedown defense percentage at 80 percent, but she's never faced Rousey. That's like a pitcher having an ERA under 2.00 in the minor leagues. It looks nice, but it doesn't matter much until the hurler faces major league hitters.
Correia is about to be called up to The Show, and Rousey is Mike Trout.
Advantage: Rousey in a landslide.
Finishing
Here's another area in which Rousey can't be compared to any other fighter—let alone someone in her division. She has finished every opponent she's ever faced, and only one has made it out of the first round.
Correia's fights almost always go the distance. She's a grinder. The Brazilian has no wins by submission and only two TKO victories.
Advantage: Rousey.
Intangibles
No one in professional sports has an aura quite like the one Rousey carries right now. She appears to have supreme confidence, and we all know her competency level is through the roof. That said, she's never really been in a war.
She's only had to face adversity one time in her professional MMA career. That came in her first UFC fight against Liz Carmouche, who took Rousey's back and looked to be working on a rear-naked choke. Carmouche lacked experience, though, and thus she couldn't lock it in. She would later succumb to the dreaded armbar.
That brings up this question: How would Rousey respond if she truly got rocked from a punch? Could Correia be the one to put her to the test?
She seems to have the right mentality heading into this fight. Then again, every one of Rousey's victims has talked a good game before having her arms wrenched, torso kneed and face punched in. Until we see differently, Rousey owns all of the intangibles.
Advantage: Rousey.
Who Wins?
Correia is the next victim in line. She's tough, but if you're considering betting on her, you'd be better off giving that money to your favorite charity—since you're in the giving mood.
It would be a great story if Correia won, but she won't. Rousey will dominate, and the quest for a legitimate challenger will continue.
Fight stats courtesy of FightMetric.com.
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