(Getty)During their main event bout at UFC 157, Liz Carmouche took Ronda Rousey's back and had her in a neck crank. The crank was so deep that Rousey inadvertently bit Carmouche's arm. But Rousey told the Fuel TV aftershow that she was never worried about submitting to Carmouche. Instead, she was concerned about a wardrobe malfunction.

“On the ground I feel so comfortable in every position, so I never feel in danger and I take a lot of risks. I felt fine with her on my back. I was more concerned with my sports bra staying on while she was choking me because I felt safe and in control," Rousey said.

Rousey won a bronze medal in the 2008 Olympics in judo, so submissions have been part of her life for a long time. In fact, Rousey has spoken often about how her mother taught her judo by waking her up with an armbar. While the neck crank was uncomfortable, it wasn't new.

What is new is having to worry about a sports bra not doing its job. Come on, sports bra. You had one job. Thankfully, it did stay in place, and Rousey went on to submit Carmouche seconds before the end of the first round.

(Getty)“Women always have to work harder to prove themselves.”

When Liz Carmouche said this at the UFC 157 open workouts on Wednesday, I couldn’t help but smile. Carmouche served in the Marines, is a lesbian, and is now a fighter in the UFC. She understands like few others that a woman’s work of proving herself is never done.

UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey gets this, too. She had to work harder than few other fighters in UFC history in not just preparing for her fight but in selling it. During the run-up to her main event bout with Carmouche, the first ever UFC women’s fight, Rousey trained three times a day and was interviewed by everyone from Time Magazine to Larry King. Camera crews for the UFC’s “Primetime” and “Countdown” shows, as well as HBO's “Real Sports,” followed her. Rousey joked after she won the fight with a first-round armbar that she wants a week off from talking about herself.

As a woman working in the male-dominated world of covering sports, I know this, too. I’ve been covering MMA for six years, five for Yahoo! Sports. But I am still questioned, dismissed and sometimes even attacked because I dare cover a “man’s sport.” Whenever I am confronted with sexism, whether subtle or vulgar, I have to take a deep breath and consider my response. As a woman, I have to work harder to prove myself, and remember one slip of the tongue can wreck it for me and other women who want to cover MMA.

(Getty)UFC 157 completed the rare trick of living up to its intense hype. Who stood out as stars?

No. 1 star — Ronda Rousey: Is there any better word to describe Rousey than star? After months of Rousey appearing on television, in magazines and on every site on the internet, she showed she's more than a media darling. Rousey not only escaped a submission attempt by Liz Carmouche, but also finished the fight with just 11 seconds to go in the first round. That's a star.

No. 2 star — Robbie Lawler: Looking at this fight card, would you ever have guessed that Lawler would emerge as a star? Before returning to the UFC on Saturday, he lost three of his last five bouts. He was up against Josh Koscheck, who was eager to get a big win after losing to Johny Hendricks. But the power in Lawler's hands knocked Koscheck out in the first round, and earned Lawler a $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus.

No. 3 star — Dennis Bermudez: When the preliminary fights started, the Honda Center wasn't even half full. The UFC's tailgate was still going strong in the parking lot. But as Bermudez's bout with Matt Grice wore on, I noticed the stands filling up. Perhaps they heard about the Fight of the Year candidate happening inside, with Bermudez throwing everything he had at Grice, and Grice not only withstanding the punches but coming back with big punches of his own. They each took home a $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus.

Who were your three stars from the night? Tell in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

(Getty)ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Early in the main event at UFC 157, Liz Carmouche mounted Ronda Rousey's back. With Rousey standing, Carmouche clamped on and cranked Rousey's neck. She squeezed until Rousey finally shook Carmouche off, then finished the fight with an armbar in the final seconds of round one.

It wasn't until after the fight that we found out how tight the neck crank was. When Carmouche had her arm across Rousey's face, it pushed Rousey's mouth guard out of the way. In trying to push Carmouche off, Rousey's teeth pushed into Carmouche's arm, leaving this impression.

(Twitter.com/AntEvansUFC)It wasn't an illegal move because Rousey wasn't intentionally biting down. Still, Rousey did apologize to Carmouche for leaving the mark on her arm during the postfight press conference.

When stuck in Carmouche's submission attempt, Rousey was doing more than just leaving a mark on her opponent's arm. She was being tested more than she had in any other fight. Though it still ended in the first round, at 4:49 it was the longest fight of Rousey's professional career.

(Getty)ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Lyoto Machida took a split decision over Dan Henderson in the co-main event at UFC 157 on Saturday. The judges saw it 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 for Machida.

Machida was elusive as usual in the first round, but Henderson was able to sneak in and land a few kicks and punches. At the end of the round, Machida took Henderson down with a leg trip and landed strikes.

The second round showed Machida still being elusive and keeping his distance from Henderson. Machida tried for a front kick several times, but couldn't land it. Meanwhile, Henderson couldn't land much.

[Also: Ronda Rousey survives UFC debut, wins via first-round arm bar]

Henderson is known for his big, overhand punches. Most of the time, when he throws it, it can mean the end of a fight. However, he had trouble getting close enough to Machida for the overhand to work.Lyoto Machida celebrates after his win. (Getty)

In the third round, Machida moved in for a takedown but ended up with Henderson on top. Henderson used elbows from the top, but Machida was able to

Urijah Faber hangs onto Ivan Menjivar. (Getty)ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Urijah Faber and Court McGee got back on the winning track at UFC 157 on Saturday.

Faber got a first-round submission win over Ivan Menjivar. Faber and Menjivar started the fight with a rolling takedown and Faber ended up on top. He worked the top position until Menjivar got back to his feet. Faber held on, and while attached to Menjivar's back, Faber swung around and sunk in a rear naked choke. Menjivar tapped at 4:34 in the first round. The Anaheim crowd erupted for "The California Kid."

It was an important win for Faber after he lost a title fight to Renan Barao in July. The win puts him at 27-6, with five of his losses coming in title fights.

[Also: Ronda Rousey survives UFC debut, wins via first-round arm bar]

In earlier action, Court McGee punched his way to a decision win over Josh Neer. McGee used an effective strategy early on of working Josh Neer's body. Throughout the first round, Neer was hobbled by McGee's body punches. But in the second, McGee worked

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- UFC 157's preliminary card started with a bang and ended with a snoozer on Saturday.

Dennis Bermudez took a tight split decision in a fight that will go down as a fight of the year candidate. He won it 29-28, 28-29, 29-28 over Matt Grice.

Bermudez fell into full mount early in the round and rained punches down on Grice's head, but Grice got out and came back late in the round by leveling Bermudez with a left hook.

But it's the third round of the fight that the MMA world will remember. Bermudez threw everything but the kitchen sink at Grice, but Grice hung in. He continued to throw kicks and punches at Bermudez right up until the horn sounded and a grateful crowd in Anaheim came to its feet.

“That was insane. Somewhere around the second round I woke up and thought 'Oh, I’m in a fight, I think I am in California somewhere'," Bermudez said. "If he’d given me a reason, maybe I would have quit. I had that battle inside me where I maybe could have [quit] but I won that

Robbie Lawler throws a punch at Josh Koscheck's head. (Getty)ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Robbie Lawler came back to the UFC with a big win as he knocked out Josh Koscheck on Saturday at UFC 157.

Koscheck used wrestling early on to control Lawler, but it backfired. Lawler took top position and then unleashed a bevy of punches on Koscheck until the fight was stopped at 3:57.

“I felt so good tonight; I’m not surprised it went that way. It wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t hard, either. I hit him very hard, the referee was right to stop it. I whacked him, man. Hard! He was doing nothing but laying down taking big shots," Lawler said after the fight.

[Also: Ronda Rousey survives UFC debut, wins via first-round arm bar]

This was Lawler's first fight in the UFC since 2004. He fought as a middleweight in Strikeforce for many years, but returned to the UFC as a welterweight. The smaller weight class suited him, and he picked up his 20th win on Saturday night.

For Koscheck, it's his second loss in a row. He once fought Georges St-Pierre for the welterweight title, but is