Ronda Rousey defeats Meisha Tate by armbar

MANILA, Philippines – In a highly-anticipated rematch of their 2012 fight, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey defeats Meisha “Takedown” Tate by armbar submission at 4:02 of Round 3. Rousey retains her UFC Women’s Bantamweight title belt with her 8th straight win via armbar, lending to her acquired “The Arm Collector” monicker.

In the first round, Rousey took the fight immediately to Tate, aggressively pursuing her powerful Judo throws, taking her opponent to the ground at will. On the ground, Rousey was able to exploit Tate’s disadvantage in positioning, working on ground-and-pound and figuring in some keylocks that were ultimately off the mark.

Prior to this fight, no Ronda Rousey opponent had ever made it out of the first round, yet Tate was somehow able to make it through the first 5-minute stanza, a testament to how well prepared she was for this fight.

In round 2, it was much the same, with Rousey taking Tate down whenever she wanted with her awesome display of world-class Judo. The fact that Tate has some of the worst takedown defense in the world didn’t aid her cause. Tate was taken to the mat often and once there, got dominated.

Rousey, in an attempt to silence her many critics who feel that all she can do is win by armbar, did try to figure in a triangle choke at one point. Tate was able to get her arm in between the hold which gave her just enough breathing room to survive the lock. In the 3rd round however, Rousey had one thing on her mind and that was to finish the fight.

In a signature sequence, Rousey used a Judo toss to take Tate to the ground, work into dominant position whilst having a firm grip on Tate’s left arm and locked in the armbar to which Tate immediately tapped out.

In their first fight, Tate in a similar situation refused to quit, causing her arm to snap and bend a few degrees in the wrong direction. It was a gut-wrenching scene that will forever live in the books, but tonight, Tate was able to at least forego the physical pain and instead opt for the sting of defeat.

UFC 168 was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada which headlined a much-awaited rematch between current Middleweight champion Chris Weidman and former champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva. – Rappler.com