Bethe Correia has made no secret of her disdain for UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, but following UFC 184, Correia attempted to further intensify the rivalry by confronting the champion in the cage after her first round win over Cat Zingano. According to Dave Meltzer’s Wrestling Observer, Correia (who has already defeated Rousey’s teammates Shayna Baszler and Jessamyn Duke) planned to enter the cage at the Staples Center to state her claim for a shot at the title. But, officials denied her the opportunity and seem to have their mind set on another fight for the Brazilian, a fight with Jessica Eye.
While Correia has been campaigning hard for a shot at Ronda in recent weeks, the UFC may have made the right decision by cooling any talks of the matchup for the time being. Ronda Rousey will be taking a step back from the world of martial arts for the next few months to focus on acting. Potentially matching Correia vs. Eye (which Meltzer also mentioned as the UFC’s possible next step) gives the UFC the opportunity to further hype the winner towards a shot against the champion.
Ronda Rousey will be taking a sabbatical from the sport for the next few months to focus on her blossoming film career. Rousey will be appearing alongside “The Raid” star Iko Uwais in “Mile 22” which begins shooting in Mid-May.
Rousey’s sabbatical will mean that she is unlikely to appear in the cage until Fall 2015 at the earliest, which will give the UFC the opportunity to build up a backlog of challengers for the dominant champion.
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