Ronda Rousey Tastes First Loss of UFC Belt for Charity - What's Next for Rowdy?
Undefeated UFC bantamweight titleholder Ronda Rousey had to give up her UFC 190 belt, which she won against Brazilian Bethe Correia on Saturday, not to an opponent but for a worthy cause.
The "social project" and judo school Instituto Recao received Rousey's championship belt on Tuesday, according to Fox Sports.
Rousey earlier donated $30,000 to that school in March to aid in its aim of enabling "hundreds of children take part in judo lessons and an interdisciplinary program meant to help them physically and cognitively."
"Rowdy" also reportedly agreed that the belt will remain in the country where her 34-second victory against Correia took place.
Fox Sports said that Rousey also wanted to give the belt to the institution to inspire the kids there.
"Bethe did have one thing right. She said that the Brazilian people deserve to have the belt left here. So I've decided that after I win it, I'm going to make sure that when I have the belt, I don't take it home with me. I'm going to give it and make sure that it stays someplace in Brazil as my gift," Rousey said.
TMZ said that it was an "awesome way" for Rousey to lose the belt.
The same report added that when she handed the title belt to the school, she seemed "pretty tight with the instructor and his students."
"Ronda's actually worked out with kids at Instituto Recao in the past, and the guy who runs the place is an Olympic medalist in judo, just like Ronda," TMZ quoted a UFC spokesperson.
Fox Sports identified the owner as Olympic judo bronze medalist Flavio Canto, to whom Rousey can indeed relate since she is also a two-time judo Olympian and a 2008 bronze medalist.
With her clean record in the UFC, there seems to be no more other fighters worthy of going against her except Invicta champion Cris "Cyborg" Justino.
Washington Post said Justino has recently expressed that she will drop to 140 pounds just to go against Rousey.
"Ronda Rousey already cleaned out her division and she's doing fight number three with Miesha Tate and this shows for us she already cleaned the division,"Justino said.
"When a champ cleans out a division, everybody saw this, the champ goes up to fight somebody else. I'm a champion at 145 and I can drop to 140 to fight her."
The Invicta champion added that she is now ready to drop five pounds since it is "already an unprecedented compromise."
Earlier, Rousey touched on Justino's previous use of steroids as she challenged her to fight.
"I fight in the UFC, in the 135-pound division. She can fight at 145 pumped full of steroids or she can make the weight just like everybody else without them," the UFC champ was quoted by Washington Post as saying.
Justino, however, denied the allegations. She said that she has been clean since she was caught using PEDs in 2011.
"She cannot say anything about my doping. It was 2011. I have passed six tests and the same exams she's doing, because we're in the same organization now... I don't think it's right she can say something she cannot prove," Justino added.