Ronda Rousey rocked by perfect Holm

Copyright: Zuffa 

Holly Holm is the new UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion courtesy of her team developing the perfect game plan, and it started long before she entered the Octagon.

The ploy was to make Ronda Rousey fight the fight Holly Holm wanted, and not the one that best matched her strengths.

For a long time Rousey hasn’t felt like she has been receiving the plaudits for her boxing skills, with many people seeing her as someone who wins fights solely on the basis of her judo ability.

The Holm fight was her chance to show she wasn’t a one trick pony.

But having an ego like Rousey’s can be a dangerous thing and it came back to bite her at UFC 193.

The execution of the Holm plan was evident at the weigh-in, from Rousey’s charge across the stage to Holly, along with a clearly agitated post weigh-in  interview with Joe Rogan.

Ronda was clearly rattled.

That’s exactly what the Holm camp wanted. 

They didn’t want a calm and methodical Rousey, one that would wear down Holm, eventually getting on the inside, taking her down and finding a way to finish.

They wanted a seriously pissed off Rousey. 

One that would ensure the fight would be a stand-up fight. One whose ego wanted to show she could out box a 19-time Boxing champion. 

They wanted one with a chip on her shoulder, and it was the one they got.   

Ronda Rousey has blown through opponents in recent times. Her last three fights prior to UFC 193 lasted all of a 90 seconds. She wanted to do the same to Holly Holm, in fact, she had to, and it has almost become the Rousey gimmick.

But for an established fighter like Holm, a relentlessly come forward fighter like Rousey is gold. 

Their chin is easy to find.

Rousey has gone through countless opponents because they have done the same.

But Holm was smarter.

 She used the distance, fought at range, catching Rousey as she rushed forward time and time again. With every punch, life drained out of the UFC star, then a sweetly timed kick knocked Rousey to the canvas and the damage was done.

The poster child of the UFC was downed and we had a new Bantamweight champion, and the world was stunned.

Whilst Rousey has quickly made herself a Superstar, there’s been some who have questioned her climb.

Some said she was one of the greatest fighters we will ever see, others questioned the quality of fighter put in front of her.

After her most recent win over Bethe Correira in Brazil, many said the UFC had simply run out of dance partners for the American.  

Every great champion is defined by their greatest adversaries – Ali had Frazier and Foreman, Mayweather had Pacquiao and others, Ronda Rousey now has hers in Holly Holm. 

You sense Rousey’s story is still to be written, with her legacy being defined by her time spent inside the Octagon with the new Bantamweight champion.

Dana White said in the UFC 193 post fight press conference that an immediate rematch makes sense.  

The rematch books itself, and it will do incredible business.

 As much as Dana White may have cringed post fight at his mega star coming unstuck, the UFC will most likely make more money as a consequence.

Ronda Rousey will be back and Holm will take some beating. But already everyone is licking their lips at a rematch.

Champions are made by the setbacks they endure.

The perfect plan that foiled Rousey in Melbourne will not work again.

Rousey will lick her wounds and every waiting second between now and the rematch, Ronda will plot her revenge. 

The ego has been checked. There’s nothing more humbling for a fighter than recognising their own mortality. But for the greats, such an experience steels them.

This setback may just take Rousey to the next level.

 She’s a global star now, but a rematch with Holly Holm will certainly lift her profile and the entire Women’s Mixed Martial Arts scene to a higher place.

Should she beat Holly Holm, it would only heighten the demand for a super fight with Cyborg, which was apparently in the works, had she, as expected walked out of Melbourne victorious.

But for now tears are being shed. Holm’s are celebratory, Rousey’s are in defeat.

It’s back to the drawing board for both.  

Now we see just how good Ronda Rousey really is.