Bethe Correia: Ronda Rousey’s coach made her believe she’s an excellent striker

Ronda Rousey became the first fighter to stop Bethe Correia in August, and the Brazilian bantamweight was thrilled to watch the same thing happen to "Rowdy" three months later.

Holly Holm put on a flawless performance in Melbourne, knocking out the first UFC bantamweight champion in the second round at UFC 193, and Correia blames Rousey’s coach Edmond Tarverdyan for the upset.

"People made her believe she’s an excellent striker. Her coach made her believe that, and the fact that she beat me standing gave her more confidence," Correia told MMAFighting.com. "She did her entire camp focusing on her striking, she forgot her judo. It doesn’t matter if you’re born on a judo mat, if you only train boxing you’re going to box. It’s automatic. You do what you train.

"She believed she’s a striker, forgot her background, but Holly did not. Holly knows she’s a striker. Ronda became champion using her judo, not her boxing, but she still wanted to strike with a boxer. That was her mistake. And it was wonderful to watch her get beat up, making mistakes. I loved it."

Rousey suffers her first MMA loss after building a 12-0 professional record, and Correia believes that’s great for women’s bantamweight division.

"Ronda was overrated, we just needed someone to get in there and kill her game," she said. "Thank God someone showed up to end with this empire. It was boring to have her there because I know how fake she is, and know the UFC can show that there are many other great bantamweights in the roster, not only Ronda. There are other fighters that can represent the bantamweight division as good as she did.  We needed this. The UFC can now support the entire division, there can be other champions.

"I was cheering for Holly," Correia continued. "Ronda never had anything special, in my opinion. She had her merits, but she won fights because her opponents made many mistakes when facing her, and she knew how to make everyone pay for their mistakes. I knew Holly had what it takes to win, but I had no idea if she would be mentally prepared to do that. She had focus, a good head, and that made the difference."

Correia returned to Brazil after spending weeks of training at American Kickboxing Academy, and still waits for her next bout inside the Octagon. UFC president Dana White hinted at the possibility of an immediate rematch for Rousey, but the Brazilian offers herself to be "Rowdy’s" next opponent.

"I hate Ronda. and I still want a rematch. I want Rousey vs. Correia 2," Correia said. "It wasn’t Bethe Correia in there (at UFC 190). I have always dreamed about being a world champion, and her loss to Holm opened a lot of doors for everyone in the division."