Domination on Display in Rio (UFC 190 Review)
Every major sport in the world has superstars and faces of the game that can bring people in to watch even if they aren’t huge fans.
The UFC has been attempting to find that face since 1997 as they continue to stay just out of the mainstream with plenty of people still seeing it as a barbaric sport.
So when Jon Jones came around it seemed that the UFC had found their man, a good-looking young fighter with plenty of personality that could act as an ambassador to the sport.
What they didn’t expect was the fall of Jones this year and the rise of someone who was never even supposed to be in the UFC.
It still wasn’t long ago when White was filmed saying that women will never fight in the UFC, after all what kind of barbaric sport allows the “fairer” sex to fight.
Then came Ronda Rousey who smashed that “fairer” sex stereotype and convinced White to add a women’s division, which has now grown to two women’s divisions.
It has only been recently that the rest of the sports world realized what White saw during that faithful dinner.
The world is beginning to take notice of the women’s bantamweight champion after fighting only 93 seconds in her last three fights combined.
There has yet to be a fighter who has truly pushed Rousey for an entire fight and because of that the UFC has gained their face.
With such dominant performances she has become the name that everyone associates with the UFC and was even named the most dominant athlete in sports by Sports Illustrated.
There has been no fighter that has done the rounds as much as Rousey before her next title fight at UFC 190 as the UFC has clearly gone all in with one of the most dominant fighters in the UFC.
Despite all of that attention the champion needed to get focused and take on her toughest challenger in her entire career.
Bethe Correia has done her share of talking to get the chance to fight Rousey and has attempted to get the champion off of her game with more talk leading up to UFC 190.
All of that talk has some skill to back it up though as there has never been a fighter in the women’s bantamweight with the power that Correia possess, not even Rousey.
Correia has proven to be one of the toughest fighters in the division and with a mix of power and BJJ she has more than earned her spot alongside Rousey.
Before Rousey could prove that she could handle to pressure of being the face of the UFC there was some business to get done.
UFC 190 was the biggest card of the UFC’s history with a total of seven pay-per-view fights thanks largely to the visa issues that ravaged UFC Fight Night 70’s card.
As a result of those visa issues The Ultimate Fighter Brazil was going to be decided on the same night as the women’s bantamweight title.
First up where the four fighters on the show who had to wait some time before getting their chance to earn a UFC contract.
Bantamweights Dileno Lopes and Reginaldo Vieira and lightweights Glaico Franca and Fernando Bruno were all set to finally see their dreams come true.
In the first fight Vieira and Lopes went all out clearly wanting that life-changing contract swinging for the fences and looking to finish the fight either standing or on the ground.
After massive punches and plenty of guillotines attempted it was Vieira who came out on top with a unanimous decision win earning a contract and the respect of every fan after a great war.
The second fight was not as wild as it was more of a grind between two fighters trying to get the win with a tough win.
It was a close fight throughout the match but in the end it was Franca who sunk in a Rear Naked Choke as time was ticking down to earn the contract and begin his time on the UFC roster.
After these two new fighters earned their spots on the roster two legends that coached these fighters were set to face-off in a legendary rematch from Pride.
Mauricio Rua and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira did not have the usual hate between coaches on the show but both have plenty of experience with each other.
In 2005 both fighters faced off at Pride Critical Countdown and put on one of the greatest fights of all time with Rua coming out on top with a unanimous decision.
This time around the action started just as quick when Nogueira rocked Rua in the first round and sent both fighters into a wild swinging finish.
The fight slowed from there but both fighters still pushed to try to finish the fight both on the feet and on the ground.
Eventually the judges were given the decision and after recovering from a bad first round Rua took home the second win in another good fight, even if it didn’t match the first fight.
So with the old business finally over with everyone got to see the fight they had been waiting for and hearing about since it was announced.
Correia and Rousey had done all of the talking they needed to and everyone waited to see who was going to go home with their first loss of the season and who was going to take the title home.
The talk was done and Ronda’s toughest test proved to be yet another stepping stone towards becoming one of the greatest fighters of all time in any combat sport.
Rousey came out to clinch immediately and got a trip against Correia who got up quickly after the trip.
Once she stood up Rousey began landing some big shots and eventually landed a big right hand behind the ear ending the night for Correia after only 34 seconds.
There is not much else for Rousey to do in the division but she will face a familiar foe in her next fight when she takes on Meisha Tate in their third matchup.
Behind Tate is a few fighters on the rise including Holly Holm but in all honesty there are no fighters right now that seem to be at the level of Rousey as the division is very close to being cleaned out.
The end of the night just proved that Rousey is the face of the UFC and has earned the title of most dominant athlete in the world today.
The Sport Addiction 