5 Talking points about Ronda Rousey's defeat to Holly Holm at UFC 193
The MMA world has been mooted to a frenzy following Holly Holm’s spectacular headkick knockout of Ronda Rousey at UFC 193As the effervescent Joe Rogan aptly summed it up, Holly Holm’s 2nd round knockout victory over Ronda Rousey could perhaps be considered as one of the greatest upsets in MMA history; a fact further underlined by how much Rousey’s dominion over the women’s bantamweight division has been taken for granted.With the former champion already plastered up as the poster-girl of the UFC and also tasting mainstream success in Hollywood on a large scale, the upset victory procured by Holm and especially the manner of it has head kicked the MMA world into a frenzy.The whirring of the UFC marketing machine coupled with the dominant performances of the Rowdy One till date have perhaps lent credibility to the idea that Ronda Rousey was indestructible, often prompting fervoured and illogical dream fight scenarios against the likes of Floyd Mayweather.In a swift stroke of reality, though, the world witnessed in disbelief as an accomplished striker in Holly Holm picked apart Rousey’s uncalculated lunges with precision and incision.Perhaps this was always on the cards, with fight analysts questioning the dexterity of Rousey’s stand-up game; a tenet further highlighter, yet subtly, when her mom questioned if Edmund Tarverdyan was the right coach for her at all.Either way, while Holly Holm can celebrate her feat of realising the unthinkable, it might be prudent to examine exactly what the thus far imperceptible chinks might have been in Rousey’s glittering armour and where she goes from here. Here then, are 5 talking points about Ronda Rousey’s defeat to Holly Holm at UFC 193.
#1 Holly Holm\'s striking
While it was obvious that Ronda was well aware of Holly Holm’s considerable kickboxing credentials when the fight was first announced, her approach in the fight seemed devoid of any concerted effort to adjust her game to nullify that of Holm’s.
Rushing in blindly and trying desperately to take the fight to the ground, Ronda Rousey was outclassed and picked apart in a manner that was damaging to the legacy that she has thus far sculpted for herself.
Perhaps the very same game plan that has so far allowed her to obliterate her opposition proved her undoing this time around, but to all Ronda fanatics, the manner of defeat suffered and the ease with which Holm seemed to pull it off must surely sting.
Trained by the imperious coaching team of Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn from New Mexico, where Jon Jones also trains, Holm’s gameplan and execution of it far superseeded that of Ronda; a point driven home with unerring precision in footwork and deadly accuracy in striking in each exchange leading up to the explosive finish.