Ronda Rousey's next opponent only started training in MMA four years ago in an attempt to lose weight
It's a dramatic leap, one that few - including Correia - could have predicted.
Yahoo Sports Kevin Iole calls Correia, "one of the most unlikely UFC title challengers ever." It would be very hard to dispute that claim. The 5' 5" Brazilian may be one of the top UFC fighters now, with an undefeated 9-0 record, but, in 2011 Correia had no real MMA and fighting experience.
In fact, Correia told Ozy's Shannon Sims she initially had no plans to try to compete professionally when she first started training. She joked she only picked up the sport because she "started getting fat, like all women do after they marry."
It wasn't until a random chance encounter with current Bellator Featherweight Champion Patricio Freire, at a gym in Natal, Brazil, that she started to take her training seriously. Freire told Sims he remembers being on the opposite end of the gym and hearing someone laying a beating on a punching bag, so he went out to see who it was. He was shocked to find out it was a young woman delivering the powerful blows.
Correia, however, told Iole she remains confident she'll give Rousey, who owns an undefeated 11-0 record, her first loss.