Ronda Rousey smiles at the crowd before her fight against Bethe Correia of Brazil FAST AND FURIOUS On August 1 2015 mixed martial arts MMA fans gathered in Rio de Janeiro Brazil for a huge fight Champion Ronda Rousey faced Brazilian Bethe Correia Lights blinked and cameras flashed in the arena The crowd hummed with excitement 4
Correia had the benefit of fighting in her home country But most MMA fans expected Ronda to win She had never lost an MMA match Her armbar move had taken down fighter after fighter Most people couldn’t last even one minute against her Ronda and Correia tangle in the first few seconds of their match 5
Ronda and Correia face off in the arena Yet Correia wasn’t impressed with Ronda’s record The Brazilian had said unkind things about Ronda before the fight At the weigh-in Correia yelled in Ronda’s face but the champion stayed calm and focused 6
The night of the fight the buzz in the arena grew as Ronda entered the octagon As soon as the match began she moved toward Correia Instead of trying for an armbar Ronda swung her fists Correia ducked and moved back About 20 seconds into the fight Ronda pushed her opponent Correia fell back and rolled to the edge of the octagon Ronda moved in and let loose a flurry of punches as Correia got to her feet Ronda’s left fist landed on Correia’s jaw The Brazilian stumbled Seconds later Ronda landed another big punch Correia tipped over and fell to the mat The referee stopped the fight Ronda had won again Correia took just 34 seconds Four of Ronda’s earlier Ronda’s win against professional wins had taken even less time 7
