Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Ronda Rousey needed to get knocked out, to put it bluntly. She had let all the hype go to her head and was recently acting like a cross between a brat and a bully.
Enter Holly Holm. She came into this fight as a 14-1 underdog and the No. 7 fighter in the division – and she annihilated Rousey from the opening bell until her lights-out kick.
Holm beat Rousey so ridiculously bad that Dana White was in full defensive mode in the post fight press conference. His cash cow didn’t just get caught with a lucky punch, she got torn apart in the ring to the point she literally looked like a drunk throwing punches. That’s not good for business.
I think this loss is going to shake Rousey to the core. Everyone told her she couldn’t lose and it appeared as if she believed her own hype. Now her indestructible hype bubble has popped, what will she do?
Holm laid out the blueprint on Rousey who suddenly finds herself in a very similar position as Brock Lesnar did a few years ago. Rousey and Lesnar both started off as physically dominant athletes who brutalized opponents on the ground.
At first, both stormed the UFC and everybody caught up in the whirlwind. The problem was their strong ground game covered up their lacking stand up game and it was only a matter of time until the best martial artists in the world figured it out.
One person who didn’t get enough publicity in all the post fight hub was Holm’s coach Greg Jackson. Jackson already has a minted reputation as the best MMA coach in all the land and his fighter just turned in a sparkling performance with a flawlessly executed game plan.
Now that Dana White’s golden goose has been cooked, we can all go back to a more rational MMA conversation. I’d like to personally thank Holm for her serving a slice of justice. Not only did she make Rousey see stars, she eliminated an out of control hype machine; White will now be forced to find a cash cow that is based in reality. Oh, and Holm will probably end up getting Rousey’s overrated coach fired.
That’s not bad for a night’s work, not bad at all.
Last, let’s congratulate White, Rousey and Holm for making a women’s sport huge. Before the match even started, I found the whole scenario surreal. Here I was on Saturday night, truly on pins and needles waiting for a women’s main event fight to unfold. That’s pretty damn amazing.
Great job to White and Rousey for getting it rolling and Holm gets the nod for infusing much needed competition. No one gave her a chance (including yours truly) but Holm is your new champion of the world. Wow.
By Jerome Matthews
The post Why I’m Happy Holm Destroyed Rousey appeared first on Cagepotato.