Strikeforce
STRIKEFORCE: "TATE VS. ROUSEY" RESULTS: Ronda Rousey submits Miesha Tate by armbar to become Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion
Mar 4, 2012 - 12:45:37 AM STRIKEFORCE: "TATE VS. ROUSEY" RESULTS: Ronda Rousey submits Miesha Tate by armbar to become Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion

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By Rich Hansen, MMA Torch Columnist

Ronda Rousey went into Saturday night's Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship fight with Miesha Tate undefeated, having won all four previous fights by first round armbar. Rousey bumped that those streaks to five consecutive as she defeated Tate by first round armbar to become the new Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion.

Rousey (5-0 MMA, 3-0 Strikeforce) actually had a chance to finish the fight by armbar in the second minute of the fight, but Tate was able to get out of that position, and wound up with back control for the next couple minutes of the fight. But once Tate lost the dominant position, it became apparent that Rousey's superior grappling would be the end of Tate's regin as champion.

Tate (12-3 MMA, 5-2 Strikeforce) started the fight showing extreme aggression, throwing wild punches and landing on rousey several times in the first few seconds of the fight. Considering the high amount of trash talk and bad blood leading up to the fight, it was not entirely surprising that Tate would come out aggressively.

Rousey managed to get an early takedown and eventually locked an armbar on Tate's left arm. Fortunately for Tate she was able to roll out before Rousey was able to control Tate's body with her legs, and Tate wound up taking the upstart's back for more than a minute.

It was only a matter of time once Rousey regained her wits until she would end the fight by armbar. And in what was the most brutal armbar of her already impressive string if armbars, Rousey locked in a second armbar on the already damaged arm of Tate, forcing a tap from the champion.

Tate may have tapped a few second too late, as it appeared that Rousey broke Tate's arm, as can be seen in the picture below (Photo courtesy of Dave Farra's Twitter.

When asked after the fight by Mauro Ranallo about the armbar, Rousey showed no remorse for breaking Tate's arm, stating "She's good, and she's legit, but I don't feel that bad about it."

For her part, Tate tried to get past the bad blood that got people talking about women's MMA for weeks leading into this title fight. Tate told Ranallo in the cage, "I was a little overzealous. She caught the arm, but I have to give her respect. I do respect her as an athlete."

Rousey is expected to defend her title for the first time against former champion Sarah Kaufman. Kaufman earned the chance to reclaim her title from the new champion by defeating Alexis Davis in an exciting unanimous decision victory earlier in the evening.