UFC 190: Rousey-Correia ready for champ’s most ‘personal’ bout yet

Accompanied by a compelling and simmering storyline, it has accelerated into a very personal rivalry — too personal in the eyes of many.

It is a matchup between two undefeated combatants with the rich prize of the Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight title at stake.

It is an American with a famed Olympic past traveling to face off with a Brazilian in her backyard.

But for all the storylines and overall pomp and circumstance of the build-up, UFC champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey is as determined and focused as ever to roll through fifth-ranked challenger Bethe Correia on Saturday night at UFC 190 from the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, just as she has every previous opponent.

“I’m going to beat Bethe in the most fantastic and entertaining way possible,” said Rousey, a two-time former United States Olympian in judo who was the first American woman to medal in the sport with a bronze in 2008.

The bout will air live on pay-per-view as part of a seven-bout main card.

The Glendale Fighting Club’s Rousey (11-0, 5-0 in UFC) will be making her sixth straight UFC title defense and seventh overall dating back to her time in Strikeforce.

Rousey has finished off all 10 of her professional opponents (Miesha Tate twice), with 10 bouts ending inside the first round and her last three bouts concluding in a combined 96 seconds — 66 seconds against Sara McMann (Feb. 22, 2014), 16 seconds versus Alexis Davis (July 5, 2014) and 14 seconds against Cat Zingano (Feb. 28).

Having destructed in dominant fashion every viable challenger so far, she now faces Correia (9-0, 3-0 in UFC), who has not faced an opponent currently ranked in the top 15 and holds only three wins over opponents who currently possess winning records.

Hence, Rousey is a staggering favorite, with odds as high as 15-1.

No matter the odds, Rousey and her camp have stressed that they’re not looking past the undefeated Brazilian.

“We don’t even talk about, ‘Ronda you shouldn’t be overconfident.’ That’s amateur stuff,” said Edmond Tarverdyan, Rousey’s head coach at Glendale Fighting Club. “She’ll get in there and she’ll do her job.”

While the bout on paper and in the eyes of many is one-sided, the lead-up to the fight has been rife with storylines.

Correia, a 32-year-old who began competing in MMA in May of 2012, debuted in the UFC in December of 2013 with a split decision win against Julie Kedzie.

From there, Correia defeated Jessamyn Duke by unanimous decision in April of 2014. Duke is one of Rousey’s closest friends and a member of “The Four Horsewomen,” a nickname representing Rousey, Duke, Shayna Baszler and Marina Shafir.

Duke, who was still training at GFC at the time, had Rousey, Baszler and Tarverdyan in her corner.

Following the decision, Correia shook Duke, Baszler and Tarverdyan’s hands (Rousey was not in the octagon), but then held up four fingers and pulled one down, symbolizing that she’d taken one of the Horsewomen down.

Her next bout was against Baszler on Aug. 30, 2014. After losing the first round, Correia stopped Baszler with a barrage of punches for a second-round technical knockout. Another four-fingered gesture followed.

In February, after Rousey defeated Zingano, she called for a bout with Correia.

Then, in May in an interview with the Brazilian publication Combate, Correia took the build-up to a different level.

“When she realizes she is not everything that she believes she is,” Correia stated, “I don’t know what might happen. I hope she does not kill herself later.”

The 28-year-old Rousey lost her father to suicide 20 years earlier. To say the aftermath concerning Correia’s comments has seen the bout get personal would be an understatement.

“This is definitely the most personal fight that I’ve ever had. Making such tasteless remarks about suicide when she knows how it has affected me in my past,” Rousey said. “I don’t mind taking things on myself because this is my job and I chose it. When it starts to affect and insult my family, that’s when I know an example must be made.”

Said Tarverdyan: “Bethe is gonna be in trouble once the cage door shuts.”

While it might well be a mistake to poke Rousey, the question begs as to whether the champion might be more prone to make mistakes if she fights angry.

“She’ll still be smart,” Baszler said. “As someone who knows Ronda really well, a pissed-off, vindictive Ronda is not someone anybody should have to deal with.”

While Rousey has stated multiple times how personal the bout is, she’s confident it will be just like every previous bout, including fights against the likes of Tate and Charmaine Tweet in which she had a clear disdain for her opponent beforehand.

“That’s what I like most about fighting is because that’s when the emotions go away,” Rousey said. “I’m so emotional when I’m outside of a fight that fighting is my escape from emotion.”

In the lead-up to the fight, there really aren’t too many aspects of Rousey’s career, history and general being that Correia hasn’t attacked.

“It’s the first fight where Ronda’s a real good guy, she’s the face, the fan favorite,” Baszler said.

Rousey, who on Saturday will take on her third undefeated challenger and participate in the fourth overall UFC title fight between unbeaten foes, is the first and only UFC women’s bantamweight champion.

Before her arrival, UFC President Dana White infamously said women would never fight in the company.

But after seeing Rousey, he changed his tone. However, Correia has gone on record in her belief that Rousey was simply in the right place at the right time and that women would have eventually fought in the octagon.

She’s also gone on record to call Rousey a “fraud,” despite the fact that Rousey has defeated six fighters currently ranked in the 135-pound top 10, including all of the top four-ranked fighters. Correia, however, believes that was more about factors outside of the octagon, apparently.

“I do think anxiety has negatively affected her opponents. I don’t fault them. In my opinion, Ronda has faced fighters more complete than she herself is. But they messed up. I don’t fault them as much as the marketing that surrounds Ronda,” Correia told MMAJunkie.com.

“I think the fans and the media portray Ronda as superior to everyone else. That affects people psychologically. Her opponents stepped into the cage feeling inferior to her. It also helps boost Ronda’s self-image. I think that has helped her win, too.”

To a certain degree, she’s gone after the looks of Rousey, who has been featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and graced the cover of Maxim Magazine and ESPN The Magazine’s “Body Issue.”

Correia has said more than once that she intends on knocking the mole off Rousey’s face.

“She’s delusional,” Baszler said of Correia. “Delusional is the best word.”

As it pertains to fighting, Correia has said that she’s a multi-dimensional fighter, while Rousey is a one-dimensional grappler. Nonetheless, Correia has challenged Rousey to keep it standing, which is where Correia’s comfort zone is, at least in her three UFC bouts, has been put on display.

One dimensional as Rousey may appear to Correia, results tell a bit different tale as Correia has finished just two fights in her career, both by strikes. Rousey, who’s finished every one of her fights, also has two victories via strikes coming against No. 3 Davis and No. 4 McMann.

“Ronda has always the same game,” Correia said through a translator on a Monday conference all. “And they will find Bethe [as] the same Bethe, but 10 times better. And she said that Ronda’s game is failed, because she’s always searching for the same thing — to go on the ground. And she hopes that Ronda keeps her promises — that is to really fight a straight MMA fight with her and not go directly to the floor. She wants her to maintain her promise and not do what she always does.”

Another aspect of the bout is that Rousey asked for the fight to be contested in Correia’s home country of Brazil.

Whether the challenger is the hometown favorite is an aspect that has come under question as Rousey’s popularity has been abundant, according to most media accounts, with social media showing fans coming to tears meeting her, swarming her for pictures and autographs and even a young fan running up to hug her during an open workout.

Tarverdyan and Rousey’s entire corner made the trip to Brazil roughly two weeks before the fight to acclimate to the environment and the time change, as the main event will take place sometime after 1 a.m. in Brazil.

As for breaking down the fighters’ strengths, Rousey’s judo and submission skills are considered phenomenal. She’s finished nine bouts via submission with her signature armbar and her other two finishes have come via technical knockout on strikes.

Correia, who has gone to decision in seven of her nine fights, has shown a tendency, at least in the UFC, to keep fights standing, as she possesses a solid left jab, throws mostly looping punches, often working behind a lead left hook, and occasional leg kicks.

Both are aggressive fighters that come forward.

However, in looking at Correia’s bouts with Duke and Baszler, Correia showed herself to be susceptible to the clinch, as Baszler pushed her to the cage and clinched multiple times in the first round of their bout and Duke often employed a muay Thai clinch and took Correia down in every round, including with a judo throw in the second round.

“Jessamyn threw her with a hip throw that Ronda showed her in the back before the fight that night,” Baszler said. “So imagine what Ronda can do.”

Baszler is confident Correia doesn’t even have a puncher’s chance and therefore Rousey can and will win no matter where it goes.

“I think Ronda will punch her in the face as long as it will last,” Baszler said. “I just don’t think Bethe will have enough to last as long as Ronda wants.”

Rousey is never one to predict exactly how a fight will go, only that she will emerge victorious. That hasn’t changed, but the emotions certainly have.

“I will definitely get more satisfaction out of this win than anyone before,” Rousey said. “This is definitely the most personal fight I’ve ever had.”