34 seconds. That was all the time it took for UFC star Ronda Rousey to knockout Brazilian opponent Bethe Correia in the highly-anticipated UFC 190 title fight on Saturday night, Aug 1, at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Right after the gong went off, Rousey stormed out of her corner, possessed, and went right after Correia with full fury. It was clear that she was not going to draw out the match, which she had considered in the build up to the bout. She missed with a few wild right hands and then couldn’t get a grip on the Brazilian to give her a proper toss. But then Rousey dropped Correia with a monster right hand to the temple, causing the latter to faceplant to the mat.
Rousey retained her title via knockout at the 34-second mark of the opening round.
The win added to a remarkable run for Rousey, who has defeated each of her past three foes in under one minute. Eleven of her 12 victories have come in the first round and all 12 wins are finishes. Rousey probably has the fastest hands and knees in the entire division, to go with some serious power from her Judo hips, legs and core. If she continues to improve as rapidly as she has over the course of her still young MMA career, there’s no telling what we might see from Ronda the next time she fights.
In the leadup to the fight, Correia drew Rousey’s ire by making a joke about Rousey and suicide. Rousey’s father, Ron, committed suicide when Rousey was eight years old.
“I hope no one brings up my family anymore when it comes to fights,” Rousey said. “I hope this is the last time.”
“Instead of trying to force the finish, I decided to overwhelm her with striking first so she’d want to clinch first, and that’s exactly what happened,” Rousey added.
Rousey dedicated the victory to her nicknamesake, wrestler “Rowdy” Roddy Piper,” who passed away on Friday.
Watch the video highlights below, courtesy of UFC on Fox.
Pics: Getty Images