“Vegas” Dave Oancea is a professional gambler who owns a consulting site for bettors. If that name sounds familiar, it is because he won $2.5 million on the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so they say. And…
“Vegas” Dave Oancea is a professional gambler who owns a consulting site for bettors. If that name sounds familiar, it is because he won $2.5 million on the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, so they say. And he ventured against Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 on Saturday.
“I’ll put $10,000 on her every time against her and just keep doubling up because eventually she’s [Rousey] going to lose—that’s my philosophy,” he said. “It just takes one lucky punch. I’ll put $10,000 on her if they let me do it. I’ve got balls.”
Well, it turns out he decided to double the bet. That’s right. He laid down $20,000 on the boxer. And it paid off. He cashed the bet for $240,000 on the vicious head-kick KO. Not too bad for a Saturday night’s work.
Professional gambler or not, it was a bold move to bet against Rousey. She was the most dominant figure in combat sports. She had thrashed every single woman to step foot in the cage with her. That’s why the odds were so steep entering the event.
But “Vegas Dave” is right. All it takes is one punch. We have seen that come to fruition over and over again in this crazy sport of mixed martial arts. Anyone can be caught on any given day. Or rather, in Rousey’s case, anyone can be dominated by a fighter who was not intimidated by prior results.
Holm came through as the steep underdog, and bettors such as “Vegas Dave” benefited greatly. And, I’m sure Holm did all right for her bank account too—and she has 12 pounds of gold to carry back to New Mexico as well.
Holly Holm is the UFC bantamweight champion. That’s right. Not Ronda Rousey. It’s Holm.
That is strange to type, strange to read and strange to hear. It will likely be strange for quite some time. Nearly all of us saw Rousey as a near-invincible monste…
Holly Holm is the UFC bantamweight champion. That’s right. Not Ronda Rousey. It’s Holm.
That is strange to type, strange to read and strange to hear. It will likely be strange for quite some time. Nearly all of us saw Rousey as a near-invincible monster. Sure, we all saw holes in her game, but no one truly believed they could be exploited to the degree Holm did at UFC 193.
And here is the bonus from the result—it makes the division immensely interesting.
Rousey had run roughshod over the division. The fact Holm was thrust into title position as the No. 7-ranked contender tells you how dominant Rousey was. The UFC had to search past the No. 5 spot to find a contender she had yet to defeat or one who had some wins to her credit.
Remember how Miesha Tate was disappointed and contemplating retirement because she was skipped over? Guess who is in prime position for a title shot as the No. 1-ranked contender.
Or how about Cat Zingano. You know, the very talented No. 2 contender who lost to Rousey in just 14 seconds—back in play for a quick title shot. As are Amanda Nunes, Sarah Kaufman and Julianna Pena.
The UFC has options. And not just options, but interesting options because of how each of those women matches up with Holm. The new champion—that’s still weird to type—had a competitive bout with No. 12-ranked Raquel Pennington in her debut, showing that she doesn’t have the aura that Rousey had. Holm makes 135 fun again.
This is no longer a one-woman show. Bantamweight is now a legitimate division with several title contenders ready, willing and able while Rousey is on the sidelines. After all, she said she planned on taking significant time off following UFC 193.
In the meantime, Holm can take on a challenger or two. Likely just one, however, as it would make all the sense in the world for the UFC’s biggest star to make her triumphant return at UFC 200 this July. And if Holm is still champion? Wheel the money-printing machine directly into Dana White‘s office and plug it in.
This single victory by Holm will reinvigorate the entire division. It makes it a wide-open field and gives hope for the rest of the division should Rousey return and claim gold. That aura that surrounded her was shattered with the head-kick heard ’round the world. It’s but a memory.
In the words of Good Ol‘ Jim Ross, “Business is about to pick up.”
“The Preacher’s Daughter” laid Rousey at the altar and sacrificed her to the gods of the division. For the betterment of all.
The entire sport may have changed at UFC 193, with the biggest star in MMA history, Ronda Rousey, getting absolutely destroyed by Holly Holm. The ferocity of the knockout sliced through Rousey’s unstoppable aura and what was left was…human. That…
The entire sport may have changed at UFC 193, with the biggest star in MMA history, Ronda Rousey, getting absolutely destroyed by Holly Holm. The ferocity of the knockout sliced through Rousey‘s unstoppable aura and what was left was…human. That’s not a good look for top-tier athletes, regardless of the situation, but it’s a terrible situation for the UFC, which has invested so heavily and so deeply into Rousey.
The first taste of a post-title Rousey, and a post-Rousey UFC, comes right here at the UFC 193 post-fight press conference. It is not currently known which fighters will appear, and more importantly, it is not currently known if Rousey will appear, but expect a glowing Holm to be the star of the table and to appear alongside many of the local talent that took titles.
While these post-fight pressers can often be boring or downright odd, this is definitely one worth tuning in to. You can find the video above (and be warned, you’re likely in for a boatload of NSFW language), and make sure to keep an eye out for Bleacher Report’s post-fight coverage.
Eras usually end in pieces, crumbling away with the erosion of time. Sometimes it happens over years, but sometimes they are compressed until pressure shatters them. Yet we often feel as though we were caught by surprise due to a failure to see the cra…
Eras usually end in pieces, crumbling away with the erosion of time. Sometimes it happens over years, but sometimes they are compressed until pressure shatters them. Yet we often feel as though we were caught by surprise due to a failure to see the cracks.
In hindsight, in time, maybe there will be something we can point to in order to understand the demise of Ronda Rousey. Maybe. All we know right now is that the myth is no more. Rousey is no longer unbeatable or unbeaten. Instead, she was dominated, crushed, then rendered unconscious.
There will be no Cris Cyborg superfight. The “Greatest of All Time” labels will go back in their holsters. The Queen is Dead.
Holly Holm, a historic underdog, knocked Rousey out at the 59-second mark of the second round. The result recalled other past stunners, like Matt Serra knocking out Georges St-Pierre. But the thing to know is that it was no fluke. It wasn’t a lucky strike, said with a prayer.
Holm ran the show from beginning to end. Rousey had no defense for her straight left, and Holm’s footwork often left Rousey swinging back at air. By the time it was over, she had out-landed Rousey 38-17in significant strikes. But it wasn’t just the punches and kicks. Holm had all the answers. Rousey took her down, and Holm easily escaped Rousey’s one and only armbar attempt.
Holm was brilliant in her execution, mastering the timing of Rousey’s entries with precision strikes, using her aggressiveness against her. It was a master class in finesse over power.
The end came after Holm landed yet another left hand that briefly sent Rousey to the mat. As she returned to her feet, Holm smashed a kick off her chin. Rousey was unconscious before she hit the mat. With a few cursory punches before the stoppage, the reign was over, sending gasps through the Etihad Stadium crowd and a jolt through the sports world.
“I’m trying to take it in, but it’s crazy,” Holm said moments after it ended.
The whole event was supposed to be a Rousey coronation. Largely on the strength of her star power, the UFC drew a huge crowd in Melbourne, Australia, estimated to be just under 60,000, according to Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
That alone showed how far women’s MMA had come. It was less than three years ago when women graced the Octagon for the first time. From the beginning, UFC president Dana White didn’t hide the impetus for it all, saying that he wasn’t so much in the women’s MMA business as he was in the Ronda Rousey business.
Just 995 days from then until now, and the Rousey business has not simply been great; it’s elevated the entire MMA business. Looking out at the spectacle of UFC 193, those throngs filling a stadium halfway around the world, there was no way to deny Rousey’s power.
The event was a box-office grand slam for the UFC. Prior to the event, White told Los Angeles Times reporter Lance Pugmire that it was trending at over 1 million pay-per-view buys, a number that has only been reached seven times in mixed martial arts history. The live gate was reported to be $6.77 million, meaning the PPV and event gate revenue combined would easily eclipse $50 million.
Still, the lead-up to UFC 193 was likely the most stressful period Rousey’s had since turning pro. She juggled multiple major media appearances, signed new movie deals, released a book and faced down controversies, one stemming from her mother’s comments denigrating her head coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, and another based upon her relationship with Travis Browne, a UFC fighter accused of domestic abuse by a former partner.
As a result, for the first time we saw Rousey appear to be affected by the maelstrom around her. Angered by some questions, she hung up on a conference call, then cut off a reporter mid-question during a media scrum. And in her weigh-in faceoff with Holm, she seemed to start something out of nothing.
What was the purpose of that? Maybe she needed to find a reason to pump herself up. Maybe she needed to create some tension to focus herself. Only she knows the reason, but whatever it was, it did not work.
“I’ve never been on that side of weigh-in before,” Holm said in an interview on Fox Sports 2 afterward. “I thought, ‘Oh, she’s really getting into it.’ I feel there’s a lot of emotion in Ronda I haven’t seen before, but that doesn’t mean I have a victory, I still have to work for it. But I did feel like I had a little edge because of it.”
Maybe. But mostly, Holm was just better. Rousey couldn’t bully her, and couldn’t hold her down, and most definitely couldn’t out-strike her. In the end, there was nothing more Rousey could think to do than walk forward into Holm’s power until she couldn’t walk any more. The Queen went down on her shield. The end was not pretty, but it was noble.
But maybe it was pretty, at least for Holm, who stood stunned over Rousey after referee Herb Dean pulled her off. She has won championships before, but nothing like this. Not with the world watching. While much has been made of Rousey’s credentials (she was a former Olympic judo bronze medalist), Holm was not short of her own past success. She is now the first athlete ever to win major world titles in both boxing and MMA.
Maybe she was the one meant for the top this whole time. Ten fights, unbeaten and the head of the biggest name in the sport on her mantel. That’s a pretty good start to a career. A pretty good way to end the Rousey business.
The UFC must now evolve and move forward. It is a new era. It is Holly Holm’s turn to take the crown and run with it, but also to feel the pressure that seems to cascade on champions and add an extra degree of difficulty to their careers. Can she handle it, or will the pressure crush her too? Who knows? On a night like Saturday, we realize how little we see until it’s too late. We realize this is why we watch, to see greatness in the most unexpected moments.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Nobody gave Holly Holm much of a chance. She came into the fight as much as a 20-to-1 underdog. And then, she took less than six minutes to shock the world as she landed a second-round head kick knockout over Ronda Rousey to cap off UFC 193.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Nobody gave Holly Holm much of a chance. She came into the fight as much as a 20-to-1 underdog. And then, she took less than six minutes to shock the world as she landed a second-round head kick knockout over Ronda Rousey to cap off UFC 193.
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 …
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.
“Vegas” Dave Oancea is a professional gambler who owns a consulting site for bettors. If that name sounds familiar, it is because he won $2.5 million on the Kansas City Royals winning the World Series.