RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- It's not a good idea to give Ronda Rousey some extra motivation.
Hurt
by comments about her family and moved by the death of a close friend
and idol, Rousey got off to a quick start and knocked out home-crowd
favorite Bethe Correia only 34 seconds into the first round at UFC 190
on Saturday night.
Rousey defended her bantamweight title by
throwing a rapid sequence of punches at the Brazilian's head, landing a
combination of right and left strikes that sent her opponent face-first
into the ground and disappointed the local fans packing the HSBC Arena.
It was yet another impressive performance by Rousey, who improved to 12-0 in her incredible MMA career.
She has been crushing her opponents inside the octagon, but this victory seemed special.
Rousey
came into the fight upset with Correia after the Brazilian made a
comment apparently referencing to Rousey's father's suicide. Rousey said
Correia crossed the line, so she would try to embarrass her in front of
her fans.
"I hope that nobody really brings up my family anymore when it comes to fights," she said. "I hope this is the last time."
Before
the fight, Correia had said she didn't know about what happened to
Rousey's father and never intended to attack her personally.
Rousey
also was extra motivated after the death of Hall of Fame wrestler Roddy
Piper, who was one her greatest idols and inspired her to take the
"Rowdy" nickname. She had said she would be fighting for him.
"We've
lost a really close friend, `Rowdy' Roddy Piper, who gave me his
permission to use his name as a fighter, so I hope he and my dad had a
good time watching this today," Rousey said.
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