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Rousey retains UFC crown with record 14-sec win

LOS ANGELES — Ronda Rousey has stopped every opponent she has faced in her meteoric mixed martial arts career, so a first-round victory is no shock for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight champion.

Ronda Rousey celebrating her win against Cat Zingano on Saturday. Photo: AP

Ronda Rousey celebrating her win against Cat Zingano on Saturday. Photo: AP

LOS ANGELES — Ronda Rousey has stopped every opponent she has faced in her meteoric mixed martial arts career, so a first-round victory is no shock for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight champion.

Except nobody has finished a UFC title fight this quickly and hardly anyone has done it with so much flair.

Rousey (11-0) stopped the previously unbeaten Cat Zingano with an acrobatic armbar after only 14 seconds — a record for any UFC title bout — dramatically defending her 135-pound title at UFC 184 on Saturday night (yesterday morning, Singapore time).

Rousey’s fifth title defence happened before the sellout Staples Center crowd, which included Hollywood celebrities Mark Wahlberg, Mickey Rourke and Anthony Kiedis, could process what it just witnessed.

Zingano (9-1) dropped Rousey on her head with a flying charge at the opening bell, but the champ used her judo skills to flip Zingano onto her back. Rousey scampered into position to wrench Zingano’s arm grotesquely — and the challenger tapped out.

Rousey did not expect to get turned upside-down, but the Olympic medal-winning judoka relied on instinct. “I made that up on the fly, to be honest,” she said. “But it was kind of funny: We were going towards the ground, and I kind of reverted back to judo mode and was thinking, ‘Don’t touch your back. It’s a point.’ That’s where the acrobatic thing came from, was thinking about not touching your back in judo.”

Rousey’s previous three fights have lasted a total of 96 seconds, including two bouts against previously unbeaten opponents. AP

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