Bethe “Pitbull” Correia is a Brazilian MMA fighter who currently competes in the women’s bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. While working as an accountant, she grew interested in MMA after training in Sanda, the Chinese self-defense combat sport. After a chance meeting with Bellator Featherweight Champion Patricio Freire, who urged her to compete in pro-MMA, she ended up abandoning her job and fighting in professional MMA. Her affiliation with the “Pitbull” brothers earned her the nickname “Pitbull.” She began her professional fighting career in 2012 in Brazil and went on to win six straight fights in less than a year before getting a contract with the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), becoming the third Brazilian woman to do so.
She is a striker who is well-known for her boxing and grappling abilities. Her preferred striking technique is kickboxing, and her preferred grappling technique is wrestling. Prior to her fights, she is also known for verbally taunting her opponents. While her fighting prowess has won her a significant fan base, her violent words against her opponents frequently alienate her fans. The former accountant hopes to make a lot of money by winning a lot of fights in the future, and she plans to make wise investments after she finishes her professional fighting career.
Childhood and Adolescence
Bethe Correia was born on June 22, 1983, in Campina Grande, Parana, Brazil. As the youngest of four children of a banker in Campina Grande, she was obstinate and fiery as a child.
She aspired to be an accountant like her father and graduated from the School of Accounting with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. She later worked as an accountant but soon discovered she was “too energetic for office work.”
She got married while still in school and began to gain weight, which motivated her to begin working out in order to relieve boredom and lose weight. During this time, Patricio Freire heard her pounding on the punching bag at a gym in Natal, Brazil, and immediately gave her the opportunity to train at his own gym.
She soon began training with the “Pitbull” brothers, Patricio and Patricky Freire, in jiu-jitsu, Sanda, and amateur wrestling skills and got her blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and her purple sash in Kung Fu. While she had no intention of fighting professionally at first, she began to enjoy her fights and felt a sense of completion, so she chose to compete in mixed martial arts.
A Career in Mixed Martial Arts
Bethe Correia began fighting professionally in May 2012, making her debut against Daniela Maria da Silva at the First Fight: Revelations event in her home country of Brazil. She won the bout unanimously and went on to win five more fights in the next 13 months.
In October 2013, she received a multi-bout agreement offer from the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which she had always been looking for opportunities to fight world-class competitors. Her maiden bout was on December 7, 2013, at UFC Fight Night: Hunt vs. Bigfoot in Brisbane, Australia, against MMA veteran Julie Kedzie, who has 28 professional fights to her six. She did, however, win the battle by a split decision.
She then relocated to the United States for her next two UFC fights, where she faced “The Four Horsewomen” member Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke on April 26, 2014, at UFC 172 in Baltimore, Maryland. In the fight, she was able to keep punching Duke, who was much taller than her.
Her next fight in the United States was on August 30, 2014, at UFC 177 in Sacramento, California, against another member of “The Four Horsewomen,” Shayna Baszler. She successfully evaded a submission attempt in the first round and won by TKO at 1:56 minutes into round two.
She was challenged by Sarah Kaufman and Miesha Tate, both former Strikeforce bantamweight champions, with a 9-0 record and three consecutive UFC victories. However, after two victories over “horsewomen,” she set her sights on another “horsewoman,” Ronda Rousey, who held the then-UFC bantamweight championship title.
Following her strong title shot campaign against Rousey, one of the world’s most feared fighters, the UFC officially scheduled the fight for August 1, 2015, at UFC 190 in her home country of Brazil. Rousey had a record of 11-0 and a 15-1 advantage over Correia when she took on Correia in the fight. She won by knockout 34 seconds into the first round.
Bethe Correia then said that she was interested in fighting Miesha Tate and Jessica Eye, but that both had declined.
Her next UFC fight came against Raquel Pennington on April 16, 2016, in Tampa, Florida at UFC on Fox: Teixeira vs. Evans. Both women bled during a three-round fight that was very intense. Correia lost by a split decision.
She challenged Jessica Eye at UFC 203 on September 10, 2016, in Cleveland, Ohio, after suffering two consecutive losses. She edged out her opponent and won the bout by a split decision in Eye’s hometown.
She competed against Marion Reneau at UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Gastelum on March 11, 2017, in Fortaleza, Brazil. There were a lot of people who thought Reneau won the fight in the last two rounds, even though she said she was the clear winner.
She fought former champion, Holly Holm, on June 17, 2017, in Singapore at UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Correia. Her brain scan after the fight revealed no significant injuries, but the UFC imposed a 6-month medical suspension on her.
Achievements & Awards
Bethe Correia has accomplished the extraordinary accomplishment of going unbeaten in her first nine professional contests. This featured three UFC fights in her career. She is the third Brazilian woman to sign with the UFC.
She has been fighting professionally in MMA since 2012, and she has two knockout victories among her ten wins from 14 fights. In 2017, she also won a majority draw against Marion Reneau.
Personal History and Legacy
When Bethe Correia was studying accounting, she got married for the first time. As a result, she divorced her husband, who was not interested in her new job.
She then married her long-term partner, a retired boxer, and Edelson Silva, the boxing coach for Anderson Silva. He also works as her coach, and her manager is her sister, Suzana Correia.