She might have been the underdog coming into the fight, but Holly Holm left a victor during the highly anticipated match. On Saturday (November 14) in Melbourne, Australia, Holm defeated Ronda Rousey with a vicious head kick knockout at UFC 193, taking away her title. The bloody fight ultimately sent Rousey to the hospital, where she received stitches. A rematch between the two is already being discussed.
What do you get when an undefeated UFC women's bantamweight champion (Rousey) and an undefeated former boxing world champion (Holm) step into the Ultimate Fighting Championship Octagon together? One hell of a fight, that's what!
With Rousey's growing popularity as a mainstream celebrity, many fans believed this fight would be a simple fight for her. Those assumptions quickly dwindled when the match ended in just two rounds.
"I have to say that everything that we worked on presented itself in the fight," Holm told Fox Sports after the historic win. "Every kind of grab that she tried to get and clinch on the cage. I have not spent this much time in the gym before any fight in my life."
The first round kicked off with 28-year-old Rousey throwing wild punches, but around the 20-second mark Holms connected a straight jab to her jaw after circling from the outside. Rousey scored a takedown, but Holm slipped away after a failed armbar attempt.
Holm pounded Rousey with multiple punches, but Rousey finally struck back with a powerful hook. The round ened with them clinching and exchanging knees. Holm ultimately took the win 10-9.
During a scramble in the second round, 34-year-old Holm started off strong delivering a couple counter punches. Just as Rousey tried to pick herself up off the mat and put her hands back up, Holm sent her crashing back down on the mat with a crowd-shocking left high kick.
"We figured her aggression was coming, if it didn't that's OK, but with footwork and my career we figured she wouldn't give me that space," Holm told ABC News. "There's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears but it was all worth it."
Rousey was immediately transported to the hospital where she received stitches for her split lip and treatment for a concussion. UFC President Dana White confirmed the former champ did not have any serious injuries. According to ABC News, White also stated fans might see a rematch between the two in the future.
