Bethe Correia hasn’t stepped in the UFC’s famed octagon since this past August when her dreams of becoming UFC champion were dashed at the hands of Ronda Rousey in 34 seconds. The layoff, she said, was the result of needing to recover from the frenzy surrounding the UFC 190 fight with Rousey.
Correia (9-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) suffered the first defeat of her career against Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC). After heaps of trash talk leading to the bout, Rousey stormed across the cage and did not stop punching until Correia was finished. The speed and one-sidedness of the bout were bad enough for her, but the surrounding controversy took things to another level, Correia said.
Rousey’s father committed suicide when she was a child, which colored
Correia’s pre-fight taunt of “Please don’t kill yourself – don’t commit suicide, because I will give you the rematch” in a very ugly light. The Brazilian bantamweight
offered an apology for the comments, pleading ignorance, but
Rousey wasn’t wasn’t buying it. The fact Correia also referenced Rousey’s past drug use and eating disorder made it hard for many to accept the suicide comments as coincidence.
“Some people love to critique, to point out errors,” Correia told MMAjunkie. “They all think that in my place, they would have done something different. I feel bad for them, as they don’t know the truth. I always won all competitions, as an amateur, even in training. I would face any woman. To be undefeated makes one feel like they could beat anyone. It generates a great deal of confidence. Combine that with the dream of being champion, and one becomes an optimist above the norm. Even if everything points to the contrary, the faith is still there that one can remain undefeated.”
“Everything I said before my fight with Ronda Rousey was what I felt was the truth. I wouldn’t change anything. I said what I thought. I just didn’t know the bad side of the media. I didn’t know that so many things would be distorted. Many journalists used my good faith to sell headlines. I became the villain of the story in my own country. I was very sad before, during and after that fight.”
Correia will return to competition Saturday at UFC on FOX 19 when she faces
Raquel Pennington(6-5 MMA, 3-2 UFC). The bout airs on the FOX-televised prelims ahead of the FOX main card and following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass. The event takes place at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
The 32-year-old said she needed to leave Brazil and change things up following her defeat. After taking time to get herself together mentally, it became a matter of the UFC finding her an opponent, she said.
“I came off a fight that had strong repercussions throughout the world,” Correia said. “When it was over, I didn’t want to fight for some time, since I hadn’t had time accept things. Little by little I woke up from the shock. It was very difficult. I needed time to compose myself. I decided to leave Brazil and went to train in the U.S.. That’s where I found renewed motivation to return to my pursuit of the belt. In December, I talked to the UFC and they had me booked to face Jessica Eye in February, but she refused. So they rebooked me for April against Raquel Pennington, who accepted immediately. I think everyone wants to see me fight again and see my performance after what happened with Ronda.”
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