Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has never been the betting underdog for any professional mixed martial arts (MMA) fight, dating back to her 2011 debut against Ediane Gomes at King of the Cage (KOTC).
For her UFC 190 title defense against Bethe Correia, which takes place on Aug. 1, 2015 inside HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, "Rowdy" opened as the -1500 favorite, tied for her highest money line to date. But interestingly enough, that's only half of what Cristiane Justino was able to do in the same calendar year.
"Cyborg" destroyed her opening line against Faith Van Duin at a whopping -3500.
Rousey is now 11-0 as a pro with nine submission victories and two wins by way of knockout. In fact, she's only been out of the first round once in her entire career and the one fighter who was supposed to give her the fits -- Cat Zingano -- was crushed in just 14 seconds.
That doesn't leave Jason Lake at SportsbookReview.com feeling overly optimistic about a Brazilian upset, as the similarly undefeated "Pitbull" has been to a decision in seven of her nine wins.
What Correia doesn't have is Rousey's ground game. Rousey is a fourth-degree black belt in Judo - those things don't get handed out like "Participant" ribbons at a spelling bee. She's so far advanced in her craft that she's become something of a division killer. Correia has a blue belt in BJJ, which is nothing to sneeze at, but that's the equivalent of six levels below Rousey in the ranking system.
Rousey also has a two-inch height and four-inch reach advantage in this matchup, and she's four years younger at age 28. But the thing that gets overlooked the most is the sheer number of judo competitions Rousey attended from age 11 onward. All those hours of combat, all that training - no matter how talented Correia may be, she hasn't had the opportunity to put in the same work that Rousey has. Something out of the ordinary will have to happen for Correia to win this fight.
Free UFC Pick: Take Rousey -1053 at Marathon
Pretty cut and dry, as far as I'm concerned.
To see the current "Rousey vs. Correia" money line, as well as to compare competing sportsbooks to find the best value for your online wagering, head over to SportsbookReview.com by clicking here.