On Saturday, February 23, 2013, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey faced former US Marine Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche in the first women’s match in the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The two women put on an exciting fight for the fans at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.
Born in Riverside, California, Ronda Rousey trained for years in judo and earned a bronze medal in the Olympics before deciding to pursue Mixed Martial Arts. Before fighting at UFC 157, Rousey had armbarred all six of her opponents in the first round in her professional MMA career.
Knowing Rousey's history, Carmouche fought hard against Rousey. She made it difficult for Rousey to get a takedown. Although she got taken down eventually, after the takedown, Carmouche scrambled to take Rousey’s back. With Rousey jumping back to her feet, Carmouche attempted a neck crank and then switched to a rear naked choke. Rousey was able to shake off Carmouche, but Carmouche upkicked Rousey on the chest.
After the upkick, Carmouche remained on her back. Rather than letting Carmouche stand up, Rousey engaged her opponent on the ground. Rousey moved to sidemount and punished Carmouche with punches to the face.
After bloodying Carmouche with punches, Rousey advanced to the full mount position and went for an armbar. Carmouche tried to fight the armbar, but Rousey gradually extended Carmouche's arm. Like all of Rousey’s opponents in Rousey’s six previous professional bouts, Carmouche fell victim to an armbar in the first round.
At the post-fight conference, a member of the press mentioned that Rousey had a frown on her face at the UFC 157 weigh-in when UFC President Dana White made her hold the championship belt. Rousey talked about the fact that she had not fought in the UFC at the time of the weigh-in. With her win over Carmouche, Rousey can now say that she has a win in the UFC.
Rousey said, “I really feel like I can comfortably live with calling myself [the champion] now.”
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