Multi-time boxing world champion Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm shocked the MMA world with a huge victory tonight at UFC 193: “Rousey vs Holm” in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Holm knocked out “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey to become the new UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
Though she entered the title fight as a massive underdog, Holm dominated the bout from start to finish before finishing Rousey with a second-round head kick. In the co-main event, UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jędrzejczyk outpointed a game Valérie “Trouble” Létourneau.
Right from tonight’s opening bell, Holm (10-0-0) kept her distance from Rousey (12-1-0) and countered Rousey’s aggression with crisp counterpunches. Rousey eventually scored with a right hook that led to a clinch against the fence, but Holm broke free and she landed a head kick and a step-in elbow. This prompted Rousey to take the fight to the mat, but Holm quickly returned to her feet and the momentum appeared to be clearly on the side of the challenger.
Holm mixed up her strikes with leg kicks and two left hands that briefly wobbled Rousey, who answered back with a right hook that knocked out Holm’s mouthpiece. After action resumed, Holm slammed a bloodied Rousey down to the mat and became the first to win a round against Rousey in the process.
As the second round began, Holm landed more one-two combinations and she easily avoided a wild left hook from the champion. Rousey stood and was rocked by a left hook. She gave up her back and turned towards Holm just as Holm landed a devastating head kick. An unconscious Rousey collapsed to the canvas and the fight was waved off.
Holm’s shocking victory earned her the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship and also opened up the UFC’s 135-pound women’s division, which had previously been dominated by Rousey. Holm remains undefeated in her MMA career and she now holds the sport’s most prestigious women’s title. Rousey was transported to a local medical facility following the brutal loss.
Winner: Holly Holm by KO (Punch & Head Kick) at 0:59 of round two. She improves to 10-0-0 and becomes the new UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
In tonight’s 115-pound co-feature, Jędrzejczyk (11-0-0) retained her title with a five-round decision victory over Létourneau (8-4-0), who put forth a much stronger showing than many had anticipated.
Létourneau tripped the champion to the mat after catching an early body kick and she landed some solid elbows on the ground before Jędrzejczyk battled back to her feet. Both women landed knees and Jędrzejczyk stunned Létourneau with an impressive front kick to the face. The close round ended with Jędrzejczyk countering another head kick by landing a quick flurry.
Round two was also close and Létourneau continued to find success with kicks. She caught kicks from Jędrzejczyk and responded with punches including two hard right hooks. Jędrzejczyk answered back with short knees and elbows, and both women scored with hard punches in a late-round exchange.
Jędrzejczyk began to take control of the fight in round three as Létourneau slowed down due to the damage from Jędrzejczyk’s frequent kicks to her lead leg. Létourneau held strong throughout the final 15 minutes, but Jędrzejczyk picked her apart with kicks and also landed numerous punches and elbows that caused Létourneau’s right eye to swell up. Létourneau’s best success came in the form of liver kicks in round five, but Jędrzejczyk was unfazed and she battered Létourneau with more punches in the final minute of the fight.
Scores were 50-45 and 49-46 twice for Jędrzejczyk, who retained her title with the competitive victory. She will likely move on to face top contender Claudia “Claudinha” Gadelha in a rematch from their closely-contested fight in December. Jędrzejczyk narrowly outpointed Gadelha in the first bout, which many had scored in the Brazilian’s favour.
Winner: Joanna Jędrzejczyk by Unanimous Decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46) after five rounds. She improves to 11-0-0 and remains the UFC Women’s Strawweight Champion.
(Photo Credit: UFC)
Winners:
Holly Holm – Goes without saying. The one that beat Ronda would get all the shine.
Women’s MMA – Rousey losing trended around the world and it showed how big UFC can be. It was back page news everywhere. This card also relied on high-level female fighting and everyone came through.
Meisha Tate – She can beat Holm.
Julianna Pena – She can sell a Holm fight.
Losers:
Ronda – Losing takes away a lot from her and kills her career outside UFC. But now she has a chance to recreate a new storyline.
Cyborg – She is so stupid. She trolled Ronda, but doesn’t realize her one chance at a payday and any fame is gone. Her only relevance was through Ronda. No one cares about her at 140. UFC will probably dump her now and no way can Invitca afford her to pay her without Zuffa. Not a shock she once hired Tito as her manager.
I must say Ronda went out like a champion. She must have realized very early on that she was in an extremely difficult fight. I was wondering why Ronda held her mouth open after the first or second straight left that Holly landed — in only the first minute or two of the fight — and now news comes out that apparently Rousey’s jaw was broken. She fought on and kept coming till the very end. People can say what they will, but Ronda took her medicine and went out on her shield – like all true Champions before her. She may be back, or may not, but her mark on MMA is undeniable and indelible. Almost singlehandedly, she built WMMA into a respectable and probably permanent fixture in sports, and in so doing, will give professional opportunities to myriad young women around the globe.
Regardless of whatever path Ronda now decides to pursue, she has made her millions, and can now rest and reap the rewards of her tremendous achievements, rewards she so richly deserves.
Quick update to my comment above — Dana White has shot down rumors that Rousey’s jaw was broken. The site that first reported that is not credible. Mousey only needed to get her lip stitched. Sorry for any confusion. I still wonder why she held her mouth open as early as 1 minute into the fight? Surely she couldn’t have been breathing so heavily from so early on.