Mixed Martial Arts Forum banner

Ronda Rousey v Liz Carmouche Offical For UFC 157

11K views 84 replies 48 participants last post by  NealCombs 
#1 ·
A day after a bit of a tease about Ronda Rousey's first UFC fight, things finally are official.

But Rousey won't be fighting Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, as Wednesday's rumor had her meeting. Instead, Rousey (6-0 MMA, 0-0 UFC) will be meeting Liz Carmouche (7-2 MMA, 0-0 UFC) as the first defense of her new UFC women's bantamweight title at UFC 157 in February.

UFC President Dana White made the announcement following Thursday's pre-event news conference for UFC on FOX 5 in Seattle, and he presented Rousey with her new UFC belt.

UFC 157 takes place Feb. 23 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. Rousey vs. Carmouche will be the main event of the card, which will air on pay-per-view, FX and Facebook.

News broke this past month that Rousey would migrate over from Strikeforce, where she was the women's bantamweight champ, to become the first female fighter in UFC history. But just who her first opponent would be and when that fight would take place were up in the air, despite White telling multiple news outlets that it was official that Rousey was in the UFC.

Her Strikeforce contract and Zuffa's deal with Strikeforce broadcast partner Showtime appeared to be potential stumbling blocks for expediting the process. But with White's presentation of Rousey in Seattle, those hurdles appear to have been cleared – at least well enough to announce a fight for her.

On Wednesday, the UFC's Brazilian website mistakenly announced a Rousey UFC debut at the same event, UFC 157, but had her main eventing against Santos – which the UFC explained as a technical glitch and later removed.

Now, a day later, it will indeed be Rousey headlining that card in her backyard – she hails from Southern California – but against Carmouche.

"It's going to happen eventually," Rousey said at the news conference of a potential fight against Santos. "I can't make these girls fight who don't want to fight me. (Carmouche) was the only one who stepped up, and it speaks a lot to her. When the other girls come around, they know where I'm at."

Rousey said receiving her UFC championship belt and having the fight announced on the heels of a press conference for Saturday's card, which features Benson Henderson's lightweight title defense against Nate Diaz, came as a surprise to her.

"I didn't even know about this till this morning," she said. "I don't even know what to make of it. It means a lot, and we have a lot to prove. I think the women are here to stay, and I think we're going to prove it."

White, of course, long said he didn't foresee a day when women would fight in the UFC, owning that belief to a perceived lack of depth in the women's divisions. But with Rousey's emergence over the last year as a bona fide star not just of women's MMA, but of all MMA, he came around.

She enters the fight, of course, unbeaten with a record consisting solely of first-round armbar submission wins. She won the Strikeforce title in March by stopping Miesha Tate, who went longer with her than all her other pro opponents combined. In August, she defended the title with an armbar of Sarah Kaufman.

Carmouche took a 5-0 record into a Strikeforce women's bantamweight title fight against Marloes Coenen in March 2011, but was stopped with a triangle choke in the fourth round. Carmouche took that fight on short notice, filling in for an injured Tate. Her next outing, she lost a decision to Kaufman.

But since then, she has back-to-back wins under the Invicta banner, and both by stoppage.


http://mmajunkie.com/news/2012/12/r...he-in-first-ufc-womens-title-fight-at-ufc-157

Just announced at the Fox presser!
 
#2 · (Edited)
I can hardly wait... :confused05:

What do they think is going to happen? Or even what do YOU think is going to happen?

Will people who don't watch fighting suddenly start buying PPV's because women are fighting?

I just think it might turn out to be a flop for the UFC. I'm all for equalism, but I'm also realistic.
 
#9 ·
One year from now the women's division is going to be viewed as the biggest mistake the UFC made in years... possibly ever.

Nobody is going to pay $65 to watch Carmouche get arm-barred 30 seconds into the fight... outside of the people that buy every PPV no matter what.

Look at the WNBA. They can't even give their tickets away.

STOP ADDING NEW DIVISIONS!!
 
#11 ·
This should be the perfect first Rousey fight in the UFC. Chucking her in with a savage like Cyborg would have been incredibly risky, but this way, they get to build her up, increase her name value further, and more than likely add another impressive victory to the Rousey resume. Then, once Rousey's name is more established with the mainstream, and Cyborg is actually ready for 135, they can book the big fight we all want to see.
 
#42 ·
im not dana's biggest fan and im indifferent to watching the girls. happy to, happy not to

but your being abit dramatic here

i just watched angie parr's retirement fight which was in a cage with muay thai rules and 4oz gloves. and it was an absolutely sick fight

i just dont see how having some female fights would ruin the ridiculous juggernaut that is the ufc
 
#14 ·
Won't order. Love Rhonda but don't care. This is like asking me to order 147 all over again except this doesn't have injuries to blame.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3
 
#17 ·
How so?

I've still yet to hear one legit reason as to why people are so opposed to Women's MMA, I understand people don't like this match up and there's nothing wrong with that, I don't have a problem with people disliking certain match ups but I would love for someone whose against Women's MMA to enlighten me as to what the hell is so wrong with the entire thing.

Are people aware there's more to this than blood and finishes? I just don't get why people are against more MMA, they hate Women's MMA, they hate the Flyweights, why? I just don't get it.
 
#23 ·
I love LL some times. Whenever I say I dint care about women's mma he attacks my knowledge of the sport. I've spent the better half of my life training myself and training with some of the best people on the planet yet all I care about is blood and finishes because I don't care about women's mma.

Minot going to spend time trying to explain why I dislike it because it doesn't matter what I say.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3
 
#26 · (Edited)
Dana White has lost it, does he not care that MMA is losing its stature as a legitimate sport to the mainstream because of his antics? Edgar loses title fight, fights for FW Title next. Sonnen loses title fight, fights for LHW title next. Diaz loses title fight, fights for WW title next. And then he thinks its a good idea to have Rousey headline a UFC PPV Event as her first fight in the UFC?! No test fight on FOX or FX? He is really losing me here...
 
#57 ·
I'm assuming you are a MMA fan, otherwise you wouldn't be on this forum but to say you're not watching the whole card is a bit silly. I'm a MMA fan and I'll watch ANY mma I can find, Bellator, One FC even Bamma! I wouldn't miss the whole card because of one fight! If you truly don't want to watch the whole card then I'd describe you as a MMA observer rather than fan.
 
#34 ·
This pisses me off so *****ing much.

Literally a *****ing woman's fight is going to be responsible for Lyoto-Henderson being a 3 round title eliminator.

What horseshit and a complete slap in the face to the real fans of this sport robbing us of 5 rounds in what should be an outstanding matchup and fight.


Going from one of the greatest fights in UFC history to co-maining a fight between an Olympic athlete and a scrub that won't last more than 3 minutes.

Way to go, UFC.


Putting a literal novelty act in front of two of the best light heavyweights in the world fighting for a crack at Jon Jones.

Un...real.

Get on Twitter people, for the love of God.
 
#35 ·
This pisses me off so *****ing much.

Literally a *****ing woman's fight is going to be responsible for Lyoto-Henderson being a 3 round title eliminator.

What horseshit.
actually, this is the only positive I see here. Im a huge Hendo fan and knowing that hes only gotta go 3 rounds to get to the winner of Jones/Sonnen makes me happy. Other than that, Im with you guys. Women's MMA wont bring in a new demographic, it'll turn away the old demographic. I'm a 25 year old male and I hate watching women fight just because as I southern man I was raised to be protective of women. I cringed all the way thru Cyborg vs Carano and then completely stopped watching women's MMA after that. At this point, I still think Carano vs Rousey would sell better than Cyborg vs Rousey.
 
#38 ·
This ******* thread makes me question why i even come to this site. SO much ******* ignorance in one place. A boiling pot of chauvinism and idiocy.

Basically most of you are saying that violence is the sole province of the penis? So ******* stupid.
 
#41 ·
Basically most of you are saying that violence is the sole province of the penis? So ******* stupid.
No we are saying there is no talent pool and if im going to watch 2 women fight, i want to atleast something that makes them a "pro". I train with girls at my gym, i have no problem with them. But NO ONE wants to see 2 girls MAIN EVENT a paper view.

The lighter weight classes didnt even get that luxury when they were brought into the UFC, yet women do?
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top