“My return will be different from all my other fights, you can be sure of that. No girl has had such a pivoting moment in her career as I did. Everything I went through with the media in my country and my training camp. I know all girls work really hard, but when it comes to pressure and criticism, nobody has been through what I have. I feel mentally stronger and more mature. My way of training has changed and that will reflect on my next fight. I will come back like a Phoenix. Not because I died, because one loss won’t erase my story, but because I will come back more powerful than ever.”
-Bethe Correia talks to Combate in Brazil about her return this April against Raquel Pennington after her 34 second loss to Ronda Rousey last August (translated by Lucas Rezende at BloodyElbow.com).
Penick’s Analysis: Correia’s had an inflated view of herself, her skills, and her career to date, and it doesn’t seem to have been affected all that much by the loss last August. She went through a lot in the media, sure, but considering what would happen to Rousey just a few months after that, it’s hard to take her seriously when she says no one’s been through what she has. Regardless, this is an important spot for her. She got put into that Rousey fight far too soon, and it was too much of a leap up from the fighters she had faced to that point. Pennington actually represents the kind of progression she should have taken to work towards that title fight, so it’s going to be a more representative test for the Brazilian in this return.
[Photo (c) Jason da Silva via USA Today Sports]
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