Over the past nearly 25 years, the UFC and the sport of mixed martial arts as a whole has provided fight fans with countless shocking, compelling moments, but some memories stick out as much more shocking than the others.
Fighters have had their legs snapped like a twig mid-fight, thrown sucker punches after the bell, and done several other seriously jaw-dropping occasions inside the octagon.
Check out the 10 most shocking moments in MMA history:
10. Paul Daley Punches Koscheck After Bell
It’s kind of funny that punches and kicks thrown within regulation time don’t raise any eyebrows, but one strike errantly thrown after the bell is enough for a lifetime ban.
Daley learned the hard way that the UFC does not tolerate cheap shots. The scene was indeed quite jarring, as no one has thrown a cheap shot so blatantly before or since.
The sucker punch caused complete pandemonium and the fallout forced “Semtex” out of the UFC for good. The scene was truly shocking and caused a great deal of confusion before “Big” Dan Mirgliotta quickly stepped in.
It’s been only three months since former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey lost her title to Holly Holm at UFC 193. In terms of the division, things have moved light years since ‘Rowdy’s’ departure from the top of the food chain. The devastating knockout from Holm was an incredible accomplishment, but the celebration didn’t last
It’s been only three months since former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey lost her title to Holly Holm at UFC 193. In terms of the division, things have moved light years since ‘Rowdy’s’ departure from the top of the food chain. The devastating knockout from Holm was an incredible accomplishment, but the celebration didn’t last long for ‘The Preacher’s Daughter.’ She ran in to Rousey’s old foe Miesha Tate at UFC 195, and was dethroned herself in just her first title defense.
So now the woman that Rousey not only defeated but finished in both their fights reigns atop the 135-pound category, and it’s led to rampant talk of the ex-champ returning to competition. It’s projected that ‘Rowdy’ will return in November, but ‘Cupcake’ has already stated she won’t be waiting until winter for her first title defense.
Many questions surround Rousey’s comeback, perhaps the most glaring is whether she’ll be mentally recovered from her first pro loss. It wasn’t just a loss, it was an admittedly horrible experience from start to present, as the former champ has openly discussed suicidal feelings after UFC 193.
As reported by MMAFighting.com, ‘Rowdy’ is using the crushing defeat to Holm as inspiration, trying to make a positive outcome from such a harrowing experience.
“Every single setback, it’s not the end of the world, it’s just the beginning of that lesson,” Rousey said this week at Reebok’s Luncheon for Inspirational Women (via Inside Halton). “That had to happen for me to learn these certain things and it’s not about being completely infallible, it’s about getting better and there’s no room for improvement in perfect.”
The building blocks for a successful comeback in the fight game are essentially all in the mind. For a top athlete, providing they are of course in shape, a focused mental state is essential, and it sounds as though Rousey has a firm grasp on the events of the past few months and indeed her fighting future. She continues:
“A lot of people think they’re a good person because they don’t do this, and they don’t do that,” said Rousey. “But for me, it’s not about what you abstain from, it’s about what you do that makes a difference.
“When it comes to challenges, I honestly believe that things happen for a reason. At the time yes it’s hard on a personal, emotional level and it’s hard to look past what’s happening to the future, but you have to believe in yourself because down the line in two, five, ten years’ time you’ll look back and think that was actually the best thing that ever happened to me.”
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey suffered a harrowing knockout loss against Holly Holm at UFC 193, one that sent her in to a tailspin of depression and negative media for the months following. Having lived the life of the most dominant champion in the division’s history, overnight ‘Rowdy’ fell in to a pit
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey suffered a harrowing knockout loss against Holly Holm at UFC 193, one that sent her in to a tailspin of depression and negative media for the months following. Having lived the life of the most dominant champion in the division’s history, overnight ‘Rowdy’ fell in to a pit of despair that she would not emerge from until last month. It’s important amidst all the criticism over Rousey’s attitude to remember she is human, just like the rest of us.
The persona we see in UFC promo cuts and media sessions is not necessarily an accurate depiction of the real Ronda Rousey, and I feel the circumstances surrounding UFC 193 go much deeper than it appears. The common MMA fan might tell you that she was simply a hype train that got derailed, beating ‘lesser’ competition in a division devoid of real talent. In reality, the women’s 135 pound division needs a boost, that’s true, but this isn’t a tool to take away a champ’s achievements. The loss to Holm leaves one clear message to consider; Ronda Rousey needs to change camps.
Here’s why:
Improvement, or the illusion of
Rousey came in to the UFC 193 main event intent on destroying Holly Holm in the stand up department, but for some reason was overlooking the former boxing great’s own striking skills. For a fighter like Rousey, only really focusing on boxing for three years, to take on a thorough bred pugilist like ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ head on like that, there’s really something wrong there. Completely abandoning the bread and butter grappling style that got her to the belt in the first place, Rousey was like a lamb to the slaughter, and it was certainly a rough night down under.
Her stand up was always going to look amateur against a great boxer and kickboxer like Holm, but it wasn’t just down to her opponents skill advantage. Everything about Rousey’s stand up was wrong, her footwork, lack of head movement, inability to cut angles or close off her opponent’s movement, her hand position, her range, her lack of head movement. In reality, she had absolutely zero fundamentals, not even the basics, to show Holly Holm that night in Melbourne, Australia. At some point, you have to look at who is training her to use these techniques, who is telling her that this is how you fight.
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