Ronda Rousey did not disappoint in the first female match inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) octagon. Rousey headlined UFC 157 at the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA defending her UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship against Liz Carmouche. Rousey improved her record to a perfect 7-0 defeating Carmouche by armbar submission. Rousey forced Carmouche to tap out at 4:49 in the first round.
Rousey, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in judo has won every fight in her professional career by armbar. She has not gone past the first round in any of her bouts. The match with Carmouche was the longest of her career. Carmouche had Rousey in trouble early in the first round after getting a take down and taking her back. Carmouche nearly secured a rear naked choke and a neck crank before Rousey escaped. "I thought I had it" said Carmouce. "Like everything, you make a mistake, and it turns around. I thought I was going to get her with the neck crank." Once Rousey gained control, she got Carmouche in position and pulled off the armbar. The fight was the longest for Rousey since she won the Strikeforce bantamweight title against Miesha Tate eleven months ago. Rousey said after the fight she stayed calm, "Is this real right now? I'm not sure. One thing I had to learn in MMA is to be patient and take my time."
The co-main event saw Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida earn another shot at the UFC light heavyweight championship. Machida won a split decision victory over Dan Henderson in an uneventful fight. Machida circled the entire fight as he was not willing to trade shots with the powerful Henderson. Machida realized that the fight was less than exciting, “I’m sorry the fight was not as good as the fans wanted,” Machida said. “My strategy was to keep away from the right hand and to keep the fight standing up. I thought I won the fight because I frustrated him and kept the fight where I wanted it. I hope I am now the number one contender. I want a title shot.” Henderson was not happy with the split decision. “I won the fight, but not officially. I hit him whenever he wanted to fight. He ran away most of the time. I thought I won” said Henderson. In other matches at UFC 157, fan favorite Urijah Faber beat Ivan Menjivar with a rear naked choke in the first round. Also, Robbie Lawler earned “knockout of the night” with his first round knockout of Josh Koscheck.
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