Daring to Dream
Bethe Correia has won all nine of her fights, seven via
decision. | Photo: Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
Who is Bethe Correia? Not many outside the Brazilian’s inner circle can answer the question.
Four years ago, Correia left behind a college degree, a job, a husband, her family and her hometown to chase the dream of becoming a mixed martial arts champion. The “Pitbull” will carry a perfect 9-0 record into her showdown with the most recognizable woman in the sport, as she prepares to challenge Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight titleholder Ronda Rousey in the UFC 190 main event on Saturday at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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ON DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS: “When I decided to be an MMA fighter, it was a hard choice in my life. Besides my accounting degree in college, I left my husband, who didn’t accept me being a fighter. I saw my parents crying, and it was really hard. There was no good professional female MMA at that time in 2011. I started training in a small room on a mat full of holes that cut my knees almost every day. I fought for a dream without sponsorship or family support. The only thing I had was my faith that one day I would be a world champion, and that certainty just grew every time I stepped in the ring to fight in MMA. After everything I went through, nothing is going to stop me.”
ON FACING ROUSEY: “I’m going to introduce Ronda to
something she never got in her life: a punch that will make her cry
out in pain. I’m going to apply the first real knockout in female
UFC history on Ronda Rousey. I’ve already dreamed of Ronda being
unconscious and Bruce Buffer screaming, ‘The new champion, Bethe
‘Pitbull’ Correia.’”
ON BRAZILIAN FANS: “Since the fight was announced, what I hear the most here in Brazil is a request to take the mole off her face: ‘Bethe, bring her wart to me.’ People are really cheering for my punch to hit her there, and I always promise them I will bring it. I know Ronda has fans all over the world, including Brazil. She is the champion and also a pioneer in the sport. Of course, there will be people cheering for her, but most of the cheering will be supporting me; and when I win the belt, the entire arena will be screaming my name.”
ON BEING THE ETERNAL UNDERDOG: “I’ve always been considered the underdog, even over the fact that I made my MMA debut late, at 28 years old. I’ve learned to face doubts since my first day, so I’m extremely used to negative people trying to take me down, but that doesn’t bother me at all. On the contrary, that makes me stronger to prove them wrong. My faith is above everything, and I fight for the ones who believe in me.”
ON HER DISDAIN FOR ROUSEY: “What I hate about Ronda is that she trash talks a lot; that’s how she’s portrayed in MMA. I didn’t like when she said she was going to humiliate me at home. I protect my home and don’t let anyone get in. She also said I’m going to have a meeting with Jesus, and that was pretty offensive to my religion, too, and she will pay the price on Aug. 1; but what I hate most about her is when she plays the victim, the little angel, to make people think I’m the bad girl. Everybody knows that she is not a little angel. She tried to use the tragedy of her father’s [suicide] against me. I never cited the name of her father. If someone can prove I used the name of her father, I’ll give up my title shot. She got offended because I said that she has a weak mind and asked her not to kill herself when she loses to me. She used that statement to play the poor weak girl, turning the media against me. That doesn’t work with me. Now I consider it personal because I hate when people try to manipulate what I say in order to make me look like a bad character. Family is something sacred to me. I’m a strong woman with lots of attitude. Anything I said about her I’d say again looking her in the eyes. I don’t regret anything I did or said in my entire life. I would do everything again.”
ON HER TRAINING CAMP IN NATAL: “I feel 100 percent ready to beat Ronda. That camp in Natal with the Pitbull Brothers team was perfect. Besides my boyfriend and boxing coach, Edelson Silva, I had the support of two judo black belts that improved my game a lot to face Ronda. I also trained my jiu-jitsu a lot. I’m ready for any area, but I see the fight standing, with lots of kicks and punches, as both of us want to exchange. Even with all emotion involved, I’m going to fight with intelligence. That title is going to be really important to my family and to my country.”
ON HER ENTRANCE MUSIC: “I’m going to enter to ‘Titanium,’ from David Guetta, which tells a little bit about my history as an athlete and everything I went through.”
ON FIGHTS GETTING PERSONAL: “Today, I can say that my problems with Ronda are extremely personal. She said pretty offensive stuff about me. It’s going to be a clean fight because we are going to follow the rules and act the way the UFC expects us to act, but we have a personal problem to solve and it will be solved by who finishes the event with the belt. I say I’m better than her, and I’ll prove it. It’s definitely not just about a title shot; it’s personal, too.”
ON WHAT LIES AHEAD: “After I get the belt, they can send anyone, but if the UFC wants an immediate rematch, I’ll fight Ronda again. I was born to be a champion, and a champion can’t choose opponents.”
ON FINDING LOVE AGAIN: “I’ve been with Edelson Silva for one year. I met Edelson at a boxing school. He started to train me there and later won my heart. Today, we are engaged, but we totally separate the professional and personal side of things. When we are in the gym, I see him only as a coach. Actually, the intimacy makes him require more from me than other students. We talk about fighting almost all day long.”
ON HER EXPERIENCES, FROM ‘THE SPIDER’ TO ‘MINOTAURO’: “Edelson was the boxing coach for [Antonio Rodrigo] ‘Minotauro’ [Nogueira] and Anderson [Silva] in many fights. Sometimes, he sees me get into situations similar to what ‘Minotauro’ and Anderson got into, and he tells me how each one of them reacted. Those experiences are really important to me.”
ON HER BIGGEST SUPPORTER: “The most important person that always supported me was my sister, Suzana. She always supports me, no matter what, 24 hours a day. When I need her, she is there. I’ll dedicate this title to her.”
ON WHERE SHE SEES HERSELF IN 20 YEARS: “I see myself retiring undefeated and helping to produce many other champions. I want to do great things for our sport.”
Leonardo Fabri contributed to this interview.
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