At the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday night, challenger Holly Holm made history when she first dropped bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey with a punch in Round 2 at UFC 193 and then knocked her out cold with a vicious head kick as Rousey stood back up.
Rousey fell to the mat with her eyes closed, and as Holm landed a few punches, referee Herb Dean rushed in to stop the fight. With Rousey’s first loss, Holm picked off the only other undefeated women’s bantamweight in the promotion.
It was a shocking upset for an event many had written off as another easy victory for Rousey.
Round 1 Recap
There was a left from Ronda before a one-two, one strike from Holly. A couple more from Ronda preceded a brief exchange. Ronda threw a few and Holly retreated. Holly was light on her feet and good at darting in and out while tagging Ronda.
Ronda went in for the clinch and takedown; Holly staved off the takedown and got pushed up against the cage before escaping the clinch. Holly moved back into the middle and got tagged by a left from Ronda. A straight right from Holly followed, but Ronda kept advancing.
Hard elbow from Holly. Ronda clinched and took her down, going for the armbar. She didn’t get it. They stood back up. Overhand right from Ronda. Low front kick from Holly. Holly ducked a punch from Ronda. Ronda got a Russian tie, but Holly pulled out of it and landed a left.
This was the most ineffective Ronda had looked.
Big left from Holly. After an exchange, Holm’s mouthpiece fell out. They reset after she retrieved it. Holly went for a takedown and got it after receiving an overhand right from Ronda, then fell briefly into Ronda’s guard. Holly disengaged and they stood.
Ronda went in with wild strikes, but Holly evaded her with ease. Ronda got an arm drag and grabbed Holly’s head but couldn’t hold onto it after exchanging some knees. Ronda got a strike in a split second after the bell. Her mouth was bloody, and she was visibly fatigued.
Round 2 Recap
Holly started with a straight left and two left jabs. She followed those up with a body kick. Holly ducked under a left from Ronda, and Ronda fell to one knee and looked confused for a moment before turning back to the center. After a brief exchange, Holly dropped Ronda with a punch; as Ronda stood back up, Holly KO’d Ronda with a head kick.
Ronda was completely out. Her eyes were shut, and she was prostrate on the mat as Holm dropped into knee-on-belly and punched her a few more times on the ground. Dean stepped in to stop the fight at :59.
The roar from the crowd was almost deafening. As Holly processed her victory, Ronda remained on the ground, confused and seemingly out of it. The doctors and her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, kept her from standing.
Holly then stood off to the side, her initial joy tempered by what seemed like some concern for Rousey—a look we’ve seen on her face before after she knocked out Allanna Jones at Legacy 21, also with a head kick.
Both fighters seemed to be in some state of surprise. Rousey looked in disbelief with eyes downcast as the official decision was announced. Holm was crying, and as Joe Rogan interviewed her, she couldn’t control the excitement and elation in her voice.
UFC 193 was already a history-making card, featuring two female title fights and possibly outperforming UFC 129’s record attendance in a 70,000-seat arena. There was little animosity leading up to Rousey’s eighth title defense, save for an incident at the weigh-ins, when Rousey claimed Holm’s fist touched her face during the staredown. Rousey responded so aggressively UFC president Dana White had to separate them.
When Rogan interviewed her afterward, Rousey spoke past him to Holm, saying:
All that respect, all that everything, all you being sweet—I see right now that it’s fake, and you’re gonna get it on Sunday. You’re not the first person that thought you had the perfect plan to beat me. It’s not the first time your camp thought they had the perfect plan to beat me.
Holm remained stoic throughout the exchange; neither her face nor her words betrayed any emotion.
Rousey then posted a video of the incident and a diatribe on Instagram that reflected her comments at the weigh-in (warning: NSFW text):
The odds heavily favored Rousey going into the fight, with few expecting Holm’s boxing could counter Rousey’s judo and aggression. This proved erroneous, as Holm orchestrated Rousey’s first loss in MMA.
Holm’s record remains undefeated at 10-0, while Rousey suffers her first loss to come in at 12-1. She also has some new, unwanted records:
Initially, Miesha Tate was thought to be Rousey’s next opponent, following Rousey’s KO of Bethe Correia at UFC 190, with White saying as much. But it was Holm who was tapped; the Rousey-Tate fight is one “everyone has already seen,” White told the Los Angeles Times‘ Lance Pugmire in August. But Tate has won her last four fights, and she remains a top-ranked bantamweight in a limited division.
From here, it’s most likely Rousey will be offered an immediate rematch against Holm. But there are several top-ranked bantamweights Rousey hasn’t faced under the UFC banner, including No. 3-ranked Amanda Nunes and The Ultimate Fighter 18 winner Julianna Pena.
Whomever Rousey fights next, expect to wait a while. After three title defenses in nine months and losing the title, a break would be understandable. She told Rolling Stone‘s Mike Bohn, “After this fight I’m definitely going to let some people miss me, for sure. Believe me, there’s nothing I would like to do more than disappear for a while. I would like to wait until UFC 200 to fight again.”
In the meantime, Rousey will be making movies, including a remake of Roadhouse and a Peter Berg film called Mile 22. UFC 200 is set to take place at the new Las Vegas Arena on July 9, 2016.
So far, Holm hasn’t commented on what might be next. Presumably, some reveling in her newfound title will be in order.
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