UFC 170: Ronda Rousey Rules Supreme, Smashes Sara McMann
by Raquel Ruiz
LAS VEGAS—It wasn’t love at the first sight.
UFC 170 at the Mandalay Center in Las Vegas on Saturday night was a disappointing first date. The best thing I can say about my inaugural experience covering mixed martial arts: I’m open to giving my new lover a second chance.
To me, Vegas is the most plastic representation of the society lost in consumerism, addiction and ostentation. But in love and war, anything goes. I came to this insufferable city to cover a spectacle that has intrigued me for a long time. I came with a purpose, and a love for contact sports. How could I not be intrigued? Since The UFC began staging women’s fights last year, it has quickly become the biggest platform for female combat sports.
Unfortunately, my opening night was not charming. It’s like kissing an attractive man for the first time and not feeling the butterflies in your tummy as expected. Still, you usually arrange a second date, just to see if the “galan” was just really nervous and can do better the second time. So, to be fair, I will give UFC a second date.
UFC 170 promised to be a solid card, with the stellar fight being the women’s bantamweight championship in the main event. So real responsibility weighed on the shoulders of the Queen on the Octagon, Ronda Rousey(top), on Saturday night. She delivered, stopping Sara McMann in the first round with strikes to win by TKO.
Rousey is a controversial fighter with a 9-0 record, which speaks to her pedigree of strength and toughness, and her Olympic bronze medal in Judo. Her Venezuelan roots on her mom’s side of the family are not something publicized often, but she enjoys remembering family meetings sitting in the same room with cousins, in some cases not understanding each other because of the language barrier.
Witnessing her walk to the cage on Saturday night was like seeing the Joan of Arc conducting her troops in battle. She is without doubt one of those fighters who crushes her opponents with just her demeanor. I found her obvious pride and borderline arrogance compelling.
Rousey was taller than McMann, an Olympic silver medalist in wrestling. From the first moments of the fight, it was clear Rousey intended to pulverize her fellow Olympian.
McMann is older by seven years and the mother of a five-year old daughter. She answered Rousey’s kicks to the knee and strikes, but Rousey trapped McMann against the cage like a predator cornering its prey, and delivered two good body shots. The second shot landed very close to the liver, between McMann’s ribs and breast.
McMann didn’t respond for a few seconds, and referee Herb Dean stopped the fight at 1:06 of the first round. The arena voiced its disappointment with loud boos that seemed to come from the entirety of the crowd.
While safety is always the number one mantra in contact sports, I find Dean’s decision very emotional. McMann was ready to keep fighting. Some fans suggested stoppage was because the referees are more cautious and protective during women’s fights. But UFC boss Dana White said later in the press conference that he watched the replay and thought it was a good stoppage by Dean.
Rousey retains her belt and continues her undefeated run through women’s MMA. The question now is, who will challenge this heroine after she destroyed McMann, who many considered her equal? Dana White will have his work cut out for him, finding opponents for Rousey going forward.
No matter how disappointed I am with the outcome, one can’t help but respect Rousey. She has real ‘cojones’ and trains extremely hard. Afterward she was justly proud of her performance.
“We’d worked on attacking the body, and I promised my coach I’d show that in the fight,” she said.
We knew the co-main event could be a mismatch between San Jose’s Daniel Cormier (above), making his debut at light heavyweight, and last-minute replacement Patrick Cummins. But the fight still drew interest because of the past history between these two Olympic wrestling teammates. The rumor mill had it that Cummins had made the former heavyweight Cormier cry. Cormier’s original opponent, Rashad Evans, previously dropped out of the fight.
But Cummins was the one in tears on Saturday night when Cormier threw him to the floor and submitted him with several strikes and punches. The referee stopped the fight at 1:19 of Round 1.
During the post press conference, Dana White announced that Damian Maia and Rory McDonald had the fight of the night. Rousey and Stephen Thompson took home performances of the night. All awardees received a $50,000 bonus.
UFC reports that 10,217 spectators were at the Mandalay Bay on Saturday night for a gate of $1,558,870. The prices for the tickets were lower than previous shows and according to Payout, some upper-level tickets were sold at $50 on the secondary market. The last UFC Pay Per View at the Mandalay Bay was UFC 156, which drew 10,275 fans for a gate of $2.437 million.
UFC 170 full results:
Women’s bantamweight title Ronda Rousey defeated Sara McMann by TKO (Knee to the body) Round 1, 1:06
Light Heavyweight Daniel Cormier def. Patrick Cummins by TKO (punches) Rd 1, 1:19
Welterweight Rory MacDonald def. Demian Maia by Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Welterweight Mike Pyle def. TJ Waldburger by TKO (punches and elbows) Rd 3, 4:03
Welterweight Stephen Thompson def. Robert Whittaker by TKO (punches) Rd 1, 3:43
Preliminary card :
Women’s Bantamweight Alexis Davis def. Jessica Eye by Decision (split) (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Bantamweight Raphael Assunção def. Pedro Munhoz by Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Bantamweight Aljamain Sterling def. Cody Gibson by Decision (unanimous) (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Flyweight Zach Makovsky def. Josh Sampo by Decision (unanimous) (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Preliminary card on UFC Fight Pass:
Lightweight Erik Koch def. Rafaello Oliveira by TKO (punches) Rd 1, 1:24
Lightweight Ernest Chavez def. Yosdenis Cedeno by Decision (split) (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)