Ronda Rousey’s pride came, then her fall.
Rousey refused to touch Holly Holm’s gloves Saturday night, then the face of the UFC was thoroughly pummeled by them. Holm wasn’t supposed to stand a chance, but it was Rousey who couldn’t stand — and lost her UFC women’s bantamweight title in the process. Rousey’s technique fell apart after Holm cut her early in the bout, and she never recovered.
“I guess what she should’ve done is went for the clinch, try to double-leg her, try to take her down more, try to, you know, instead of trying to stand with her,” UFC president Dana White said afterward.
Now the question is whether Rousey can recover from the biggest upset in UFC history. This, after all, is a woman who seemed so invincible in her previous three fights, leaving some to wonder if the UFC could even find a suitable challenger for her. Whispers of a departure for the WWE or a full-time Hollywood career grew louder. Rousey herself said she’d disappear for a while after Saturday’s fight.
She didn’t wait to disappear. The Ronda Rousey whom UFC fans know and love didn’t really show up in Melbourne, Australia.
The UFC 193 commentators duly noted that Rousey failed to charge at the start — especially surprising, given Friday’s weigh-in dust-up and the glove snub — and Holm didn’t waste time in opening Rowdy’s nose with a strike. Rousey’s best attempts at restoring order came midway through the first round, but Holm twice escaped trouble.
Fifty-nine seconds into the second round, Rousey was down and out but not by a punch. Rather, she was felled by a forceful left kick that she never saw coming. Holm earned a win that few saw coming, too, with her first knockout in 10 career UFC bouts.
“Our whole game plan definitely was working on precision with a lot of things, and if the kick was there, we’re going to take it,” Holm said. “And it was there, presented itself, and we were working on that in practice, you know.
“There’s a lot of times to throw kicks and not to throw kicks, and she (Rousey) is really good with trips, she’s really good with clinch and things like that, so you do have to be careful with them. But when they’re open, they’re open.”
Just as the Mike Tyson comparisons came last summer for Rousey, so too did fans invoke the name of Buster Douglas, who famously upset Iron Mike in a 1990 heavyweight championship fight. Tyson never was the same after that defeat, and it’s fair to ask if Rousey will be, too.
Some will blame her intense schedule and say she should just train, sleep and fight. Many will claim Rousey simply is done — a ridiculous claim, as one fight does not a fighter make. Others will contend Rousey doesn’t deserve to fight at UFC 200 next summer, but she almost certainly will, possibly against Holm. It will be UFC’s hallmark event, and win or lose, Rousey is its hallmark fighter. The magazine and video-game covers, “SportsCenter” guest host spots and myriad sponsorship deals prove that.
No, Rousey simply lost her edge, then her belt. Sure, the snarl was there as Rousey marched toward the octagon, but the explosiveness, the attack plan, the hunger, seemed lacking. For that, she paid the ultimate price.
In the end, the UFC received what it needed but likely didn’t want: a new champion. No doubt Rousey will try to make herself new again, watching the tape (the 72 percent to 30 percent connection difference will disturb her), hitting the gym (she appeared winded halfway through the first round) and seeking that rematch with Holm, who’s now the first person with world titles in boxing and the UFC.
Rousey also will have this image burned in her mind.
Rousey will receive a shot at redemption, and Holm said she’d be open to a rematch. It’ll happen because the UFC owes Rousey that much. What she does with it is up to her.
Thumbnail photo via Matt Roberts/USA TODAY Sports Images
