UFC 193 saw a major upset in Australia over the weekend, as Holly Holm defeated Ronda Rousey with a knockout kick to win the women's bantamweight title. Rousey came into the match undefeated and she now falls to 12-1, while Holm is 10-0 after getting the major upset victory.
The knockout came in the second round on a kick from Holm with her left leg to Rousey's head and the defeat was the first loss in UFC for Rousey. Holm, who was a former world boxing champion, had previously landed a number of punches on Rousey leading into the kick and the the fight ended just 59 seconds into the second round. The fight saw Holm land more strikes on Rousey and she connected at a much higher percentage, with ESPN reporting that Holm hit on 72 percent of her strikes, while Rousey hit on just 30 percent.
Rousey was not at the news conference after the fight, as she was taken for medical treatment following the knockout. According to Fox Sports, Rousey was taken to a hospital in Melbourne after the fight to treat facial cuts and Rousey's team said that he did not have a concussion. ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported that Rousey's trainer Edmond Tarverdyan said that "There are no words I can say right now how I feel. It's just, gotta be strong next to Ronda. That's how I feel."
Rousey's fights often end quickly, but this match against Holm was expected to go longer and it did, but not as long as many expected. Rousey came in as the favorite, but Holm did not show any fear in taking on the champion, trading punches through the first minutes before landing some strikes in the first round. Rousey tried to take down Holm, but Holm was able to get out of it and once the second round started, Holm waited for her chance to strike.
Holm now takes over as the female bantamweight champion and she is the second holder of the title after Rousey. Rousey had six straight title defenses before the knockout and now the two could have a rematch at some point in the future. Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reports that while Rousey avoided a concussion in the fight, she will have surgery on her injured lip.
Following the fight, UFC President Dana White said: "A rematch makes a lot of sense," White said, according to ESPN. "I think the rematch is what people will want to see. It changes a lot of things -- Cyborg [Cris Justino] fight, some other stuff we were working on. It's one of those moments, these are the moments in fighting that make it so crazy and so fun. Tonight was one of those moments."
