Analysing how Holly Holm conquered Ronda Rousey

The new Bantamweight champion of the worldOn Sunday, November 15th, the MMA world witnessed the biggest upset since Matt Serra beat Georges St. Pierre.Ronda Rousey was not only beaten by Holly Holm, she was dominated in every department by Holm. Holm put on a masterclass and Rousey was clearly out of her depth. With her win, Holly Holm has ushered in a new era in womens MMA.She has successfully derailed the Ronda Rousey hype train and Rousey for her part now, will need to overcome the first major setback of her already legendary MMA career.Lets be clear, a loss, though devastating to Rousey personally, is hardly insurmountable. Think of your favourite martial artists ever, they all lost. Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, Jose Aldo, Jon Jones, Chuck Liddell, the list goes on.Rousey is young enough to rebound and have a great second half of her career, but whether she will be able to do that is another question. This will be the toughest hurdle she has had to overcome and her mental strength will be put to the test.However, questions about Ronda Rousey regaining her title are for another day. Here, we look at what Holly Holm did so right to make things go so wrong for the now former champion.

#1 Defending the takedown

Rousey has a lot of contemplation to do

There has been a lot of talk in the wake of the fight about Ronda’s strategy. People have been saying she played into Holly’s hands and didn’t try to take her down.

However when you look at the fight, you’ll see that is completely untrue. Ronda attempted multiple takedowns, Holly was just too good at defending them. The one time Ronda did get her down, Holly sprung straight back up.

Going into the fight, the general consensus was that the longer the fight stayed on the feet, the more it suited Holly, but if it got to the ground, Ronda would get the arm and score the submission.

Therefore, the most important part of the fight was not Holly’s work on the feet, but the clinch. The clinch is what determines whether a fight stays on the feet or goes to the mat. While Ronda was aggressively seeking the clinch, Holly kept circling the outside trying to avoid it.

Famed MMA coach, Firas Zahabi explains Holly’s technique to avoid the takedown brilliantly in the video below.

As you can see, Ronda clearly attempted the takedown on multiple occasions but it is a testament to Holly’s defence that it appeared to many that she didn’t.