Down Goes Rousey: 5 Reasons Why Holm Remains Undefeated

MATTEO URELLA | November 15, 2015 | 0 Comentarios/ Comments

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – NOVEMBER 15: Holly Holm (L) throws a left-handed punch against Ronda Rousey (R) in the first round of their UFC women’s bantamweight championship bout during the UFC 193 event at Etihad Stadium on November 15, 2015 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

On November 11th 2015, UFC Bantamweight Holly “The Preacher’s Daughter” Holm (10-0) completely shocked the MMA world by her thoroughly dominant performance against Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey (12-1), knocking the champion out with a perfect head-kick less than one minute into the second round at UFC 193.

Rousey – the last Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion and first UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion – saw her professional record of twelve consecutive victories vanish as quickly as she crumpled to the mat, unable to defend herself and quite nearly out cold.

Prior to her match with Holm, Rousey already possessed a historic resume filled with unparalleled accomplishments, including but not limited to:

Youngest judoka in the entire Olympic Games (Age 17 – Athens, 2004)
First female U.S. judoka in nearly 10 years to win an A-Level tournament at the Birmingham World Cup (Great Britain, 2006)
Won Bronze at the Junior World Championships, becoming the first U.S. athlete ever to win two Junior World medals (2006)
First U.S. woman to earn Olympic medal in judo at Summer Olympics (Beijing, 2008)
First MMA fighter featured on the cover of The Ring Magazine – only the second woman featured on the cover (2016)

Despite an initial booking rumored to be a third fight with Miesha “Cupcake” Tate (17-5) – the opponent most closely resembling a Rousey rival – the UFC changed course in August 2015 and announced Holm as the next opponent to challenge for the Women’s Bantamweight title. An undefeated professional MMA athlete as well as a highly decorated former professional boxer and kickboxer, Holm entered the match with her own list of accolades:

Sixteen boxing title defenses won at three different weight classes
IKF/Ringside USA National Amateur International Rules Welterweight Kickboxing Champion (2001)
2x The Ring Magazine Female Fighter of the Year (2005, 2006)
New Mexico Boxing Hall of Fame Inductee (2013)
Legacy FC Women’s Bantamweight Champion (2014)

Originally scheduled for January 2016 but moved up to the UFC 193 card in Melbourne, Australia in November 2015, Rousey was a -2000 favorite to win the main event and secure her thirteenth consecutive victory. Holm and famed head Coach Greg Jackson planned otherwise.

“It’s just a math problem to us. So it’s hard to understand the perspective just because this is what we do for a living. This is my job to figure it out.” – Coach Greg Jackson

In retrospect, several early factors indicated the eventual outcome: a championship victory for Holm and the first professional MMA loss for Rousey.

COACH DRAMA

In mid-October 2015, Dr. AnnMaria De Mars – the mother of Rousey and first American to take Gold at the World Judo Championships in 1984 – gave a scathing opinion of Edmond Tarverdyan, head coach for Rousey.

“I hate him. I would run over him with my car if there weren’t laws against it. think Edmond is a terrible coach, and I will say it publicly. I think he’s a terrible coach. I think he hit the lottery when Ronda walked in there. She was winning before she ever met him. She probably won 99 percent of the judo matches she ever fought in. She’d won the Junior Worlds when she was 17. She got a bronze medal in the Olympics. She got a silver medal in the world championships. She was one of the top athletes in the world when she walked in there, and he wouldn’t even give her the time of day for months. Somebody like that is a terrible coach.”

Holding nothing back, Dr. De Mars reflected on the people who entered her daughter’s life post-success. Considering her own personal success and levels of accomplishment, Dr. De Mars offered an informed perspective:

“I think she is loyal to a fault, and I mean that very literally. It’s one thing to dump people when you become successful but I think she overlooks things and she makes excuses. Because he is extremely disrespectful to women. There are people that do bad things. And then that’s why I think evil continues in this world, because people are afraid to speak up.”

For his part, Tarverdyan doesn’t back down from the claims of ignoring Rousey early on in 2010 before her first amateur MMA fight:

“When she came in, I didn’t want to train her because I had my hands full. I was like, ‘What’s this girl doing? What is she going to do with this? Is she serious? Is she not?’ She would have a lot of patience and have a lot of understanding and would work very hard. After like three, four months of being in the gym, I gave her a few pointers.”

Rousey has always been and remains fiercely loyal to Tarverdyan, despite the growing clamor from the outside world:

“I want the person that I trust with the thing that’s the most important in my life to be the most important thing in their life too. What I really find in Edmond is a partner.”

While camp and family disputes is nothing new, the timing of De Mars’ incendiary verbal attack couldn’t have helped the focus of Rousey and her camp in general. Despite the personal nature of the attack, De Mars did illuminate a point which a growing majority of MMA fans and pundits have privately spoke on.

FIGHT STRATEGY

“I think it’s terrible that Ronda’s at the same gym so much. It’s terrible. Because when she was young and one of the reasons she got so good was I took her to lots of places. Because I cared more about her and her success than my name. So I don’t care if anyone gives me credit, I wanted her to do well. There’s an example of somebody who does not have her best interest at heart. Sometimes your best interests align with those people and it’s all good, sometimes they don’t.” – De Mars

While nearly any coach matched up against the coaching staff of Jackson’s Martial Arts and Fitness will be at a disadvantage, the actual in-fight game plan and strategy contrast between Rousey and Holm could not have been more pronounced.

Ronda made her customary entrance into the fight as usual – hooded and severe. Intense and focused. She altered from her usual pre-match routine, however, when she refused to touch gloves with Holm. A somewhat overblown custom akin to baseball’s “unwritten rules”, the refusal to touch gloves hinted at an even more-emotional-than-usual Rousey.

The glove-touch deviation paled in comparison to her actual game-plan deviation – or lack thereof.

Flat-footed and linear, Rousey seemed intent on standing and trading with Holm despite the challenger’s illustrious striking background success. The very first significant strike of the fight – a right cross from a circling Holm at 4:33 in Round 1 – surprised Rousey and snapped her head sideways. Despite the boxing prowess of Holm and clear superiority in striking, Rousey and her team continuously came forward in a straight line, stubbornly attempting poor grappling and takedown attempts while eating pin-point punishment in the process.

Holm – by way of her coaches and corner – seemed calm and hyper-aware of the champion’s game plan, which is even more impressive considering Rousey and her coaches undoubtedly should have had a different game plan than her usual rush-and-bully. Repeatedly tagging Rousey with an array of boxing, Holm remained composed and on-track while Rousey increased in frustration.

What isn’t known for Rousey: why the insistence on boxing? Where was the cutting of angles? Where was the patience in her judo, even after failing on her initial attempts for a throw? It became obvious Rousey and Coach Tarverdyan didn’t just have a poor game plan – they didn’t have a game plan. One of the single-most dominate and dynamic athletes in the history of any sport was reduced to flailing and desperation.

Why?

BOXING ACCOLADES

The was a sincere lack of respect for the boxing accolades of Holm – and the champion fell because of it. From the opening salvo to the eventual head-kick knockout, Holm established herself as the best striker Rousey had ever professionally competed against – and it wasn’t even close.

A professional boxing record of 33-2-3, a professional kickboxing record of 3-1 and an undefeated professional mixed martial arts record, Holm entered UFC 193 with a champion’s mindset – and a three-inch reach advantage.

Holm left UFC 193 with Rousey looking like she’s never looked before – out-classed and out cold.

While Coach Tarverdyan deserves a majority of the blame for not having his once-in-a-lifetime pupil prepared to face such a decorated striker, at no point did Rousey adjust her strategy in barely two rounds of combat. Rousey appeared intent on making Holm ‘pay’ – something she explicitly threatened at the weigh-in’s one day prior.

WEIGH-IN

The consummate competitor, Rousey is never without motivation or incentive to achieve her goals. An accomplished actress, model, author and entertainer, Rousey has incomparable focus – especially regarding her combat career.

Yet, despite her feud with Miesha Tate before, during and after UFC 168 and her feud with Bethe “Pitbull” Coreia (9-2) prior to UFC 190, Rousey seemed particularly incentivized by Holm during the pre-fight weigh-in’s, when Holm placed her fist on Rousey’s face and followed through. Akin to the MGM Grand Hotel lobby brawl between then-contender Daniel Cormier (17-1) and Holm teammate Jon “Bones” Jones (21-1) ahead of their UFC 182 showdown, Holm touched the champion at a moment when the tensions were the highest.

Rousey wasted no time to voice her displeasure with Holm and her actions:

“That fake, sweet act – I see right through it. I really do. It was all fake. All until now. All that respect, all that everything – all you being sweet: I see right now it was fake, and you’re gonna get it on Sunday.”

Rousey took to her official Instagram account shortly after the weigh-in’s to continue unleashing her opinions on Holm:

“Fake ass cheap shotting fake respect fake humility bitch – “preacher’s daughter” my ass – I see through your fake sweet act now – you’re getting your ass kicked tomorrow, and I’m really going to enjoy the beating I give you #andSTILL”

Rousey seemed extremely upset with her challenger, even by her own standards. When combined with her in-cage performance and lack of execution, perhaps Rousey was too hyped up for her seventh title defense.

Or perhaps MMA is a most-unforgiving sport with an unequivocally high champion-turnover rate.

NATURE OF THE GAME

One of the most dominant athletes in history, Rousey had already defied the averages found within MMA and championship title defenses by refusing to even compete past the first round in all but one of her previous twelve matches.

As a trailblazer for female athletes and martial artists, Rousey had never even been remotely challenged prior to her first career loss.

Before her match against Correia, Rousey once again remarked on the phenomenal pressure on her, the martial arts phenom:

“So you’re saying that you do the best with less pressure? That’s what’s best for you? You’re not meant for this life. You’re not. And I do the best. The more pressure there is, I fight above myself. I’ve never been under more pressure in my life, and I’m going to show the world what I’m really made of.”

A small-but-relative example of Rousey and her influence: before UFC 193, it was announced she would be featured on the cover of the upcoming EA Sports UFC 2 – the first female ever to land a global lead cover spot on an EA Sports title.

Rousey had already achieved so many ‘firsts’ in her career, it was near-inevitable she would eventually experience her first loss.

Whether the public dispute between family and team affected her game-plan and execution against a better striker, whether she ultimately met her stylistic nightmare-matchup or whether she succumbed to the pressures of being the most dominant professional MMA champion in the history of the sport are all secondary issues leading to a denouement of truth:

Ronda Rousey will rise to her next challenge – becoming a once and future champion.