UFC 184: What happened when Ronda Rousey clashed with Cat Zingano?
UFC 184 was built around Ronda Rousey's Bantamweight title defence versus what was meant to be her greatest test in Cat Zingano.
Prior to their headline clash, Zingano was undefeated and had dispatched of big names such as Raquel Pennington, Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes.
Zingano, like Rousey, was an accomplished wrestler, though not Olympic standard ,and was expected to provide quite the contest. However, that was not to be.
The match lasted all of 14 seconds. Zingano, renowned as a slow starter, burst out of the blocks, rocking Rousey with a knee that put her down. When Zingano ran in to pound on Rousey, the champion skilfully, rolled Zingano into an armbar and won via submission!
It was an outstanding manoeuvre by Rousey and one that was rightfully lauded. Zingano was devastated post-fight that her title challenge was extinguished so quickly. It is a defeat that three years later in 2018, she has still not recovered from.
The co-main event featured the UFC debut of Holly Holm. The former boxer was seen as a potential future contender for Rousey's title. Not even the most prophetic of MMA observers would have predicted what would take place when the pair did eventually meet, however.
Holm entered her fight with Pennington, unbeaten in seven professional bouts, though in truth had not faced any world class opponents. Pennington was by far her biggest test. It was one she passed.
The fight was won via split decision. Holm displayed excellent striking skill, as expected, and also showed brilliant cardiovascular conditioning as she gradually picked her opponent apart. Pennington showed more urgency in the final round when she knew she was down on the scorecards but in truth this should have been a Unanimous Decision win for Holm.
Jake Ellenberger defeated Josh Koscheck in the battle of the former contenders. It was a very entertaining encounter. Ellenberger repeatedly tried to secure a takedown but could not lock one in. Finally, he changed up his approach and wrapped Koscheck's head into a choke. He looked it in so deep that Koscheck foamed at the mouth. Utterly brutal. Amazingly, that was Ellenberger's first submission victory in UFC.
Alan Jouban overcame Richard Walsh in less than three minutes as both men landed some big strikes before Jouban rocked Walsh with a massive elbow and finished him off with some more huge shots.
Finally, The Ultimate Fighter 13 winner, Tony Ferguson had flattered to deceive somewhat in his UFC career up to this point but forced the world to take notice when he outclassed Gleison Tibau in double quick time with a big right hand followed by a deep choke for the submission win.
UFC 184 wasn't blessed with lengthy main card fights but all bouts left a lasting impression.
The drawing power of Rousey was in full affect once more as the event, heavily hyped around her collision with Zingano, pulled a massive 600,000 orders.