Saturday night, Ronda Rousey stepped into the Octagon in Melbourne as the reigning, defending, undisputed and undefeated UFC women’s bantamweight champion; one of the most popular athletes in the world – a wrecking machine that was going to dominate Holly Holm just like everyone else that has stood in her way.
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Then, moments before the start of round one, Rousey refused to “touch gloves” with her opponent in the traditional fight sports show of sportsmanship.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump found plenty of joy in Rousey’s loss, taking her down in a Sunday night tweet that read like, “Rousey is a bad person and bad people need to lose in life”.
Mayweather responded to that comment at the time by saying: “A while back I didn’t know who Ronda Rousey was, so I’m pretty sure she got upset”. She said to be the world’s best you do not get beaten so badly during your prime. Holm landed 27 of 40 strikes in the first and 38 of 53 overall.
Keeping Rousey at an arm’s length with expert understanding of distance, Holm peppered her with a left hand from the southpaw stance which drew blood.
After being knocked out by Holly Holm at UFC 193, Rousey was taken to a local hospital as a precaution. She also made clear that she intends to return to the ring.
“Ronda has lost before, she lost at the Olympic Games and I think that was a great test for her and look at how she came back, she came back a multi-time world champion”.
That makes Holm “the new Buster Douglas”, right?
What’s less clear is where this puts Rousey’s other plans outside UFC. “She still has a movie to film, doing all the things she has to do before she fights again”.
Whenever the rematch occurs, Holm said, she’ll be ready for a tough fight from Rousey.
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While Ronda Rousey remains a polarizing figure, her cocky and arrogant attitude ruffling the feathers of many, she was exactly what UFC head honcho Dana White wanted for his UFC organization and he promoted her to perfection.
