Ronda Rousey made her professional MMA debut in 2011, and has quickly become the most recognizable name in the world of women’s fighting. She won her first six fights via armbar submission before becoming the first woman to sign with the UFC. Her dominant ways have since continued, with only her first fight lasting longer than one minute and six seconds. Nine out of 11 of the California native’s victories have come via submission or technical submissions, and the other two were a knockout and a technical knockout. The 28-year-old’s last two bouts have lasted just 30 seconds combined, and she is proving to be quite a dominant force in the women’s bantamweight division. Bethe Correia emerged late onto the MMA scene, making her professional debut in 2012. She won her first six fights in her native Brazil, with five of these victories coming via unanimous decision and the other by TKO from punches. She signed with UFC in 2013 and has won all three of her bouts, including two against Jessamyn Duke and Shayna Baszler, two of Ronda Rousey’s close friends. While her career record stands at 9-0, Correia is only ranked eighth in the women’s bantamweight division.
Rousey is well known for her use of the armbar, which has been responsible for nine out of her 11 career fights. She is a very comfortable fighter on the ground and her grappling skills are tremendous. Throughout her career, Rousey has averaged 8.19 takedowns per 15 minutes, and boasts a takedown accuracy of over 72 percent. She also averages an incredible 6.3 submissions attempted per 15 minutes. Because of her style, she only lands a rather pedestrian 3.66 significant strikes per minute, but does connect at a solid clip of nearly 64 percent. Her opponents, on the other hand, land just 2.31 significant strikes per minute at a rate of less than 47 percent. Rousey will more than likely play to her strengths in this fight, and look for a victory via armbar submission.
Unlike Rousey, Correia is much more comfortable using boxing techniques. She lands an impressive 6.07 significant strikes per minute at a rate of just over 55 percent. She only absorbs 3.14 significant strikes per minute, and perhaps more remarkably, she limits her opponents to a clip of just over 33 percent. Correia prefers to keep the fight off the ground, and only averages 0.41 takedowns attempted per minute at an accuracy of 25 percent. She does, however, successfully defend takedowns at a rate of 80 percent. In stark contrast to her opponent, Correia has zero attempted submissions in her career. Her best chance in this bout will be to stay on her feet and hope that she can out-perform Rousey with her boxing skills.
FoxSheets.com
The FoxSheets - the most advanced sports handicapping information available on the internet.
