UFC Fight Night 106's Bethe Correia OK with 'painful' criticism of her aggressive promotion

FORTALEZA, Brazil – Bethe Correia has a championship bout in her six-fight UFC record, but she’s still missing one octagon honor: a post-fight bonus. That’s something she’s looking to fix on Saturday.

Set to face Marion Reneau (7-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC) in the FS1-televised main portion of UFC Fight Night 106, Correia (10-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) wants to make a statement when she steps into the octagon at Fortaleza’s Centro de Formacao Olimpica do Nordeste. And she believes she may have found the perfect dance partner to make that happen.

“I want a performance bonus,” Correia told MMAjunkie. “I see people winning that, I see that in their resumes, and I still don’t have one. It’s a vanity thing. I want to be able to be take pride in that, ‘I won too, I did an incredible fight, they loved my performance.’

“(Reneau) really throws herself into the fights. She’s tough, resistant, experienced. If you get a fight that’s too uneven, it’s too easy, it won’t make for a good performance. But if you manage to put on an incredible fight against a good opponent, then you really stand out.”

But don’t expect Correia to talk Reneau up too much. Known for her aggressive style of promotion, which has gotten her in hot water in the past, Correia seems to revel in amping up the rivalry. And while she didn’t seem to take the bait quite as much as some of Correia’s previous competition, it wasn’t different with Reneau.

Having that kind of personality, Correia says, has its adverse reactions. But, unlike some of her colleagues, she has no problem dealing with the consequences of her big-talking ways.

“There’s a responsibility,” Correia said. “When you talk, you are at risk of having it come back to bite you in the ass. And some fighters are afraid of that. They’re afraid of the responsibility of, ‘I said this and that happened, I shouldn’t have said it, it’s embarrassing.’ And it’s something I don’t mind. I’m me.

“If I have to say something, I will, and maybe that comes back to bite me in the ass, I’ll admit it and move on. Many fighters are afraid of that. It’s no easy, because you get criticized a lot. I get so much criticism, sometimes so offensive, that it’s sometimes painful to hear. Some people don’t have the stomach to hear it, but I don’t mind.”

While Correia does have a problem with media twisting her words for the sake of headlines, she has absolutely no issues with getting heat from the general public.

“I think fans have the right to their opinions,” Correia said. “And it’s up to me to change them. I always want to win over the fans, always.”

Correia, who is ranked No. 15 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA women’s bantamweight rankings, heads into Saturday’s scrap fresh off a split decision win over Jessica Eye that broke a two-fight skid. After a successful three-fight run to open her UFC career, she suffered her first career loss by the hands of Ronda Rousey, going on to drop a split decision to Raquel Pennington.

In spite of the recent 1-3 record, Correia thinks her dream of getting another stab at the 135-pound belt may not be too far away.

“I think the UFC will be watching me to put me atop the contender list,” Correia said. “And I want to fight for the belt still this year.”