Ronda Rousey, Liz Carmouche, UFC 157The UFC 157: Rousey vs. Carmouche event was solely about the main event which featured two female fighters getting it on in the UFC for the first time. There was little emphasis on the rest of the card, and frankly there wasn’t much else to promote.

There were two fading former champions in the co-main event and Urijah Faber who was coming off a loss in his last fight in a supporting role.

UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was heavily promoted leading up to this fight as well as challenger Liz Carmouche and they delivered in the main event.

The biggest challenge was getting Carmouche to come off as a viable challenger to Rousey even though she was a huge betting underdog with the betting community. However, the best thing that could possibly happen for the UFC came to fruition as Carmouche pushed Rousey near the brink of defeat before succumbing to Rousey’s patented armbar.

The fight had everything you could ask for in a bout so short.

The two women went right at it at the start of the fight with Carmouche landing some punches as Rousey clinched with her and slammed her to the mat. She was landing some punches to the head of Carmouche and then somehow Carmouche was able to get Rousey’s back and was essentially inches from sinking in a rear naked choke that would have shocked the MMA world along with every casual fan that tuned in to see women in the UFC for the first time.

However, in true superhero fashion Rousey was able to escape the position and then put herself in position for her patented armbar that she has used to win all of her amateur and professional fights. Of course the fight wasn’t a work, but it couldn’t have been scripted better by the WWE.

Casual fans that viewed the fight were likely impressed with the main event. In fact, it was much more exciting than the co-main event between former champions Lyoto Machida and Dan Henderson. Critics that were spewing negativity regarding women being the main event have to acknowledge that the women lived up to the hype.

Ronda Rousey is a star and proved it on Saturday night. Liz Carmouche proved that she’s a game fighter and now has name recognition going forward for the UFC which is always a positive for a fight that comes out on the losing end of a fight.

Rousey’s next opponent will be the winner of the Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano fight that will take place in April according to UFC President Dana White. If Tate is able to put herself in position to challenge Rousey again(she lost to her in 2012), the UFC will have another mega-fight that will be headlined by women.

In an era where the majority of their stars are on the decline or on their way out. A star like Ronda Rousey is exactly what the company needed to help bridge the gap when huge PPV stars are few and far between. Rousey proved that she can influence media that do not normally cover MMA to take notice. That’s something that men on the roster are not capable of at the moment which is a rarity nowadays. It’ll be interesting to see what the promotion will be like with Rousey’s last fight, but if it’s anything like UFC 157 the UFC will have a huge PPV star on it’s roster.

Stay tuned to ProMMAnow.com for more UFC 157 news and coverage.

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