On Aug. 1 UFC 190 took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey sealing the 12th win of her undefeated career by knocking out the previously undefeated Bethe Correira in front of her own countryman.
So what did we learn from the action of UFC 190?
1. Rousey displayed some confident striking on the feet, this being an ability she was yet to prove. The 34 second scuffle saw Rousey out-punch the hard hitting Brazilian before finishing her foe with a right hand for the KO. Furthermore, Rousey even took a few fists to the face without shying away from the leather.
But! What we really learned is that any potential match-up, other than Cristiane Justino aka ‘Cyborg’, would just be insulting the intelligence of fans. Personally, I slightly underestimated Rousey, I thought Correira could bring a rugged determination to at least bring some discomfort to the champion, however brief it may have been. I’m certain Rousey is up for taking on the original dominator of Women’s MMA, but do the UFC want to risk one of only two big cash cows? You can pretend ‘Cyborg’ doesn’t exist but it’s the only fight that makes sense
2. There’s life left in ‘Shogun‘. Brazilian legend and former UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua was just 1-4 in his last five contests, and sitting on two consecutive knockout losses. Against his fellow countryman and legend Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, the 33-year-old looked better than he has in years en route to claiming a unanimous decision win. The 2005 Pride Grand Prix champion reverted back to utilizing a wealth of leg kicks and maintained a strong focus throughout the bout.
Most notably, he can still take a shot! With Rua having seemingly settled in to the contest, his 39-year-old counterpart dealt a solid blow that had Rua on the verge of another knockout loss. However, ‘Shogun’ recovered and remained composed, if not a little cautious, to seal the much needed victory with a real veteran performance.
Hopefully this doesn’t set up a greater fall. ‘Lil Nog’ is hardly prime himself at the age of 39, and as the no.8 ranked contender ‘Shogun’ is surrounded by young and powerful opposition.
3. Stefan Struve has regained confidence. It was worrying times for Dutch heavyweight Stefan Struve, following his return from heart complications the 7 foot ‘Skyscraper’ suffered a panic attack on the night of his comeback fight against Matt Mitrione and was later knocked out by fellow Dutchman and kickboxing powerhouse Alistair Overeem in a bout that seemed like mean matchmaking, considering the circumstances. I was deeply concerned for the 27-year-old as it looked like his mental edge had been broken, bringing an end to his prominence in the heavyweight division.
However, at UFC 190 Struve outpointed heavyweight icon Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira, the Brother of ‘Lil Nog’. Struve settled in to the fight and grew confident with his reach advantage to secure the unanimous decision win. Struve absorbed a fair share of strikes but was not rocked and countered a series of takedowns from ‘Big Nog’, the BJJ master. The performance must have served as a tremendous boost to Struve’s ongoing resurgence.
4. ‘Bigfoot’ Silva can survive without TRT. One fighter who I truly felt was a victim of the Testosterone Replacement Therapy ban was Antonio ‘Bigfoot’ Silva. Of all the fighters who found a way to legally use the performance enhancing supplement, however questionable it may have been, the Brazilian heavyweight may have had the most genuine need.
Having been diagnosed with Gigantism, also known as Giantism, life extending surgery on his pituitary gland resulted in Silva’s natural chemical balance being greatly out of sync, to put it simply. A former heavyweight title challenger, Silva, 38, was without a win in his last four contests, including the overturned draw from his memorable battle with Mark Hunt in 2013, but at UFC 190 he snatched a victory in the second round by knocking out Australia’s Soa Palelei, proving that ‘Bigfoot’ can still pack a punch!
5. Demian Maia is brilliant when he doesn’t bother with striking. Many already know this, but when Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master Damian Maia is focused solely on his clinical grappling ability, it can be mesmerizing. The Brazilian had previously attempted to become more credible with his hands, but it didn’t always work out, resulting in some frustrating performances where his bread and butter grappling went neglected.
At UFC 190 American Neil Magny suffered the brunt of a BJJ juggernaut, utterly helpless as Maia worked his way from takedown to transition at will before finishing his prey with a rear-naked-choke in the second round.
