Ronda Rousey backed up her months of smack talk, submitting Miesha Tate to win the Strikeforce bantamweight championship in Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday night. Though this fight went longer than any of Rousey's other matches, which were all finished in less than a minute, she still didn't need more than one round.
Miesha Tate came out swinging, but Rousey got her down to the ground. She moved to side position, got the armbar and stretched it into an ugly position. Somehow, Tate got out and took Rousey's back. Rousey got out and stood up.
Moments later, she used her judo skills to hip toss Tate to the ground and moved into mount position. Tate flipped over, giving up her back. Rousey grabbed Tate's arm, stretched it out, and forced Tate to tap at 4:27 in the first round. With that, Rousey became the Strikeforce's women's bantamweight champ.
"She was much more savvy on the ground than I anticipated. She's good, and she's legit, but I don't feel that bad about [the injury]," Rousey said after the fight. It appeared Tate's arm was injured from the armbar.
[ Related: Rousey shows business savvy minutes after winning title ]
Bad blood started between the two women when Rousey pushed for a title shot against Tate, who did not feel Rousey had earned a shot. The disdain between the two grew as they promoted their title fight. They squabbled during an interview with Cagewriter and threw a number of other barbs in various outlets. The animosity turned physical during Friday's weigh-ins. Tate pushed her forehead against Rousey's during their face-off, and Rousey used her head to push Tate back.
An Olympic bronze-medalist in judo, Rousey has submission skills that no one has been able to solve yet. In five fights, she has submitted all five of her opponents with an armbar.
Earlier in the evening, former champ Sarah Kaufman won a bloody brawl against Alexis Davis. She wants the next shot at Rousey, and Rousey said she wanted the fight.
"I would welcome it for sure," Rousey said. "I was impressed with her performance."
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