Over the weekend at UFC 184, Ronda Rousey slammed the door shut on the title hopes of Cat Zingano. Rousey did what she is known for doing and finished Zingano by armbar in the first round. It should come as no surprise that Rousey walked away victorious; she was a 12-to-1 favorite the night of the fight. However, the utter dominance of Rousey’s performance left many people, including myself, wondering what had just happened. The fight lasted just 14 seconds and in that time, Rousey defended a knee, defended and reversed a takedown, and secured a fight ending armbar. I don’t think I could tie both of my shoes in 14 seconds let alone finish a fight but for Rousey this is just par for the course. The line of challengers that await a shot at Rousey is long; unfortunately there isn’t any fighter who seems to be on the same level as the champ.
Tacoma, Washington native Miesha Tate is widely considered one of the top three fighters in the UFC women’s bantamweight division. Since suffering a loss to champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 168, Tate has put together a three-fight win streak that saw her out grapple Liz Carmouche, Run Nakai and Olympic medalist Sara McMann. This streak has given Tate momentum as she looks to work her way back into title contention. However, the unfortunate truth is Tate has twice suffered defeat at the hands of UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and it will take more than a few wins to put her name back atop the list of potential title challengers. While Tate is the only person to ever make it out of the first round with Rousey, it seems that a fresh-faced challenger will more likely be the choice when Rousey’s next opponent is named. Miesha Tate has a problem; simply put, she is a victim of dominance.
We can’t talk about challengers for Ronda Rousey without mentioning the one name that comes up consistently, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino. Justino is currently the featherweight champion for Invicta FC and one of the most dominant women in mixed martial arts. Rousey has been adamant that she isn’t willing to fight in another weight class and that presents a problem for Justino. Justino hasn’t made the 135-pound weight limit since 2008 and at one point, she even came in heavy for a bout at 145 pounds. The day after Justino’s most recent fight, she posted a photo of her scale and showed that she was already up to 175 lbs. If Justino’s natural weight is 175 lbs, it may be unlikely that we ever see her competes at bantamweight. Until Justino proves that she can make it down to 135 lbs, it would appear that she is out of the picture. So the revolving door spins and into the room comes Bethe Correia.
Bethe Correia is a likely candidate to get the next shot at Rousey. Correia is unbeaten at 9-0 and has been incredibly vocal about her dislike of Rousey as well as her want to face the champion in the cage. Correia has called out multiple fighters in Rousey’s camp and has been successful in her fights with those opponents. After winning her first 3 UFC fights, it would appear that she has a full head of steam that could lead her to a title shot when Rousey decides to return to action. The problem for her is one part size, one part experience. Correia has yet to face a top talent in the bantamweight division so it remains to be seen what she can do when she faces a fighter the caliber of Miesha Tate or Sara McMann. And questions still remain about Correia’s size. She is one of the smaller fighters in the division and compared to Rousey (who once competed at 145 lbs), it seems that she will be outmatched in the strength department and against Rousey and that just won’t do. With such a strong base and judo game, Rousey would likely ragdoll the undersized Brazilian.
Rousey appears set on keeping parity in the bantamweight division from ever existing. The rate at which Rousey continues to improve seems to be one step ahead of her opponents. While a roster of up and coming fighters like Bethe Correia, Jessica Andrade, Julianna Pena and Holy Holm keep their eyes on Rousey and bantamweight gold, Rousey looks poised to become as dominant a champion as Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo and Georges St. Pierre. If Tate, Correia or any other challenger hopes to find a more clear-cut path to victory against Rousey, they might just find that the path they saw no longer exists. The longer they take, the harder it will become. Dominance is having power and control over others; Rousey is making it clear that she understands just what that means.
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