Have you ever had to take a test you thought you were going to ace, and when you go to class and get the test you realize you have absolutely no answers for it?
That’s pretty much what happened to Ronda Rousey at UFC 193.
The (now former) Bantamweight champion of the world got taken to school by Holly Holm. To be fair, the undefeated contender was thought to be Rousey’s biggest threat to her continued UFC supremacy. Rousey still remained quite confident. No one can really blame her for being a little cocky though. She’s an Olympic Bronze medalist, Gold Medal winning Judo expert and was undefeated up until referee Herb Dean stopped the fight, and what a stop it was.
Andy Brownbill / Associated Press
The fight almost began a day early at the pre-fight weigh-in, where Rousey and Holm locked arms during a heated stare. UFC President Dana White stepped in before any damage could be done by either competitor and they went on their way, but it definitely set the tone for when they stepped into The Octagon with each other the next day.
The matchup was set to be a good one from the start. The fight would be decided by who could force their opponent to fight outside of their comfort zone. Before the first round began, Rousey continued the cold-heartedness when she refused to touch gloves with Holm. Holm made her pay for that.
It’s funny, during an interview on The Tonight Show Rousey told host Jimmy Fallon that Holm would “try and like, keep distance and keep far away from me and get me frustrated to a point [where] I’ll make a mistake and she can try and kick me in the head, but it’s not going to go like that. Not the way that she wants.”
Well, she was right about most of that. Except the last part. You know, the part where she says that it wasn’t going to go exactly the way she described it.
Because it did.
Holm controlled the fight pretty much from the first tick of the clock. Rousey looked lost, chasing after Holm, only to get hit with punch after punch. There didn’t seem to be any way for Rousey to answer back with shots of her own. Holm seemed to beat Rousey at her own game and took her down briefly at the end of the first round, only to stand up right after and continue to pick the champion apart. Rousey ended up losing what was likely to be the first round of her career, and she’d reach another unfortunate milestone soon after.
Andy Brownbill / Associated Press
Part of me that Ronda knew she would lose when the second round started. Her hands dropped, her chin was exposed, her punches were loose and reckless. At one point Rousey swung at Holm and Holm dipped under it with ease, and Rousey lost her balance as it seemed like her ankles were breaking, dropping to one knee.
The end was near.
The last 20 seconds were tough to watch. Ronda was exhausted, her face was beat up from countless hooks and jabs. The last few strikes spun Rousey around and as she was turning around, Holm smacked her with a perfectly placed head kick. As Rousey fell, Holm hit rousey with a few hammer fists and it was over.
Rowdy Ronda Rousey was made tame 57 seconds into the second round. The better fighter definitely won.
So, what’s next for the fighters? Who knows. I’d pay to see the rematch though. Someone get Dana White on the phone.
Jacob can be contacted at jbarrett@kscequinox.com
