Rousey takes Strikeforce women’s title from Tate

Maybe Ronda Rousey’s next opponent will decide to focus on armbar defense in training camp.

Rousey took the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title from Miesha Tate with a first-round submission by armbar Saturday in the main event of a card in Columbus, Ohio.

Tate said before the fight she wasn’t doing anything specific to prepare to defend the armbar, even though Rousey had won all four of her pro fights within one minute using the technique.

It took a bit longer for Rousey, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in judo, to submit the champion, but she finally forced the tap at 4:27 of the first round.

Tate survived one armbar attempt in the opening seconds before the two went back and forth trading outstanding grappling techniques.

When Rousey finally locked in the finishing maneuver, Tate’s arm appeared to be seriously injured. She said, however, it was just "sore."

"She was much more savvy on the ground than I anticipated. She’s good. She’s legit," Rousey said. "But I don’t feel that bad about it."

Former lightweight champion Josh Thomson returned from a 15-month layoff to grind out a decision over K.J. Noons and potentially earn the next shot at current champion Gilbert Melendez, though Thomson wasn’t happy with his performance.

"It was (expletive)," he said. "How else do you explain it?"

Thomson was able to get Noons down on the ground and hold him there in each of the three rounds, though Thomson wasn’t able to do much damage aside from nearly locking in a late arm-triangle choke.

Ultimate Fighting Championship veteran Paul Daley delivered an uninspired effort in a split-decision loss to Kazuo Misaki in a welterweight bout.

Daley damaged Misaki’s nose and ripped open a cut over his eye with an elbow on the ground, but Daley never could get his feared striking game going.

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza made a claim to get back in the title picture, as he submitted Bristol Marunde in Souza’s first bout since losing the belt to Luke Rockhold in September.

Marunde, a late injury replacement, appeared completely overmatched on the feet and the ground.

Fellow middleweight Lumumba Sayers handed Scott Smith his fourth straight loss, winning by guillotine choke in the first round. Sayers never has been out of the first round in eight career fights, including six victories.

On the undercard, Las Vegan Ryan Couture picked up the first knockout victory of his career with a third-round stoppage of Conor Heun.

The 29-year-old son of UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture improved to 4-1 as a professional with the win in the lightweight bout.

Former women’s bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman put herself in line to challenge Rousey with a majority decision victory over Alexis Davis in a bloody bout.

Kaufman won the standup battle in the first two rounds, then survived a late onslaught in the third.

It was the third win in a row for Kaufman since losing the belt. She thought she had earned the title shot against Tate, but Rousey’s marketing push put her in the championship fight instead.

Also, Roger Bowling and Pat Healy picked up victories.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj.