Ronda Rousey Against Holly Holm UFC 193
When challenger Holly Holm faced off against the ultra-dominant women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 193. In a fight that for many pundits in the sport was seen as a formality. Having gone twelve straight without a loss and with none of her fights have gone past the first round, Ronda was a phenom of women’s MMA.
Holm came to the fight with a solid nine wins and no losses as a professional in MMA. As a boxing world champion, many believed that she simply would not have the well-rounded enough skillset to take down the queen at 135 lbs. As a standup fighter, she simply wouldn’t be able to handle Ronda’s ground game or so they thought.
Some were already thinking about who the champion would face next. As she would simply breeze past the limited Holm in a show of utter dominance. But, people were not banking on an ever-evolving Holly Holm bringing the fight to Rousey. And under the tutelage of Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, simply out-game-planning the incumbent champ.
And what lacked in terms of grappling, she more than made up for in her elite-level striking. Something which the Rousey camp would never have to deal with in any of her previous fights. So it was a case of Ronda’s Olympic-level ground game vs the standup skills of Holm. In a fight, very few thought would end up as it did!
Rousey vs Holm Round One
Ronda tried to take the centre of the octagon and take it to the challenger on the feet. Always moving and pivoting, Holly was using her angles to move out of the way and land some nice shots on the pressuring Rousey. But not making much impact, Ronda finally managed to grab a hold of Holm, forcing her to the cage and into her clinch game.
But the JacksonWink protege was in no mood to play along. Managing to break away and land some nice shots on the way out, before the pair quickly ended up on the ground. A place where Ronda would normally end most of her fights, Holly was able to escape. Landing a punch on the way out and quickly getting the fight back to the feet.
And as the round progressed, we could see Ronda getting increasingly desperate and sloppy. As Holm continued to land some stinging straight lefts that were now bloodying up the face of the champion.
Round Two
As round two kicked off, Holly continued to consistently land. Keeping Ronda at distance and not allowing her to get too close and engage in her clinching game. With a tell-tale sign coming at forty seconds in as Ronda lunged forward. While Holly ducked out of the way, sending the champion falling to the canvas in an uncharacteristic manner never seen before during her time inside the octagon.
And just ten seconds later, Holly would again stun Ronda with another beautiful straight left, sending her to the canvas. And as she scrambled to get back up, Holm was waiting with a devastating left high kick that landed flush on the neck. Putting Ronda down and out, but not before some additional hammer fists to seal the deal.
With Ronda Rousey laying out cold on the canvas. Her reign as the undisputed women’s bantamweight champion was brought to a crashing end. In a phenomenal display by the challenger Holly Holm, who proved to the world that she was not a one-dimensional fighter. Neutralising her opponent’s best assets and becoming the new UFC champion of the world.