Photos by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images Two down, two to go; the title belt shines gloriously at the end of the road. We imagine Bethe “Pitbull” Correia’s dreams: standing atop a pile of her opponents’ brittle bones that crackle underneath her 135 pounds—the entire bantamweight division at her feet hailing the new queen, all the while Bethe brandishes Ronda Rousey’s head for everyone to see. Somewhere in the dusty landscape, surrounded by all the Ronda shit-talkers, Dana White is stunned that this moment actually came.
Bethe Correia ran through Shayna Baszler’s defenses in two pretty exciting rounds on Saturday during UFC 177, the same night TJ Dillashaw had what has most likely been the most demanding fight of his career against Renan Barão’s replacement, Joe Soto. Renan Barão’s absence—along with all the speculation and smack that got talked surrounding said absence—probably bruised Brazil’s collective MMA ego, as he would not be bringing home the championship belt. Bethe remedied all that, however, with her third straight win in her UFC career.
Not because she would be bringing a title home, but because this win means that very soon Rowdy Rousey’s head could be hers for the taking, and this is the biggest reward in women’s mixed martial arts. Watching Bethe fight on Saturday was revealing in many ways. It’s rather clear now that Shayna Baszler, one of Ronda’s Horsewomen, is in no shape or form a contender. She’s on a losing streak and did not look like she is at the top of her game.
She shouldn’t retire or anything like that, but she shouldn’t be set against the division’s top 5. In the first round of Saturday’s bout, Baszler tried over and over again to get a triangle or a crank going, but Bethe slipped out every time. Every time Baszler came blasting out strikes they would clinch—Bethe felt her out during the entirety of the first round, not letting Baszler have any chance of definitively executing submission attempts, which are the moves she’s famous for.
Is Bethe Correia Halfway There?
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