- It's November 15th, 2015.
Melbourne, Australia.
We're less than a minute into the second round
of a fight between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm
with the UFC women's Bantamweight championship up for grabs.
we're about to witness one of the most unexpected endings
in UFC history, but before we get there,
we have to understand why.
What happened to make this such an important showdown?
How did our bloodied champion
and her massive underdog challenger get to this point?
And why are we even in Australia?
Let's rewind.
(mysterious music)
So the first thing that sticks out is the time.
The fact that we're in the second round,
there is only one other fighter who has faced Ronda Rousey
that can say they've gotten that far.
But even then Rousey pulled out the win.
And that can be said for every fight
she's been a part of in the last seven years.
You have to go back to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing
to find her most recent loss of any kind.
And even there she went on to win a bronze medal in judo,
becoming the first American woman
to ever earn an Olympic medal in the sport.
Retiring from judo after those Summer Games,
Rousey shifted her focus to MMA.
To say that went well would be an insult
and I don't feel like insulting someone
who can just casually do this.
This is Rousey scoring a technical submission
on Sarah D'Alelio via arm bar.
this is her submitting Sarah Kaufman via arm bar.
Here's her doing the same to Julia Budd.
In addition to the method being the same,
each of these wins for Rousey also happened
in less than one minute.
If you look at her first three fights as an amateur,
alongside her first seven as a pro,
both technique and time remained pretty consistent
with only two making it out of the first minute of Round 1.
The first person to truly make Rousey work for it
was Miesha Tate when they headlined Strikeforce event
in March 2012.
That contest was for the Strikeforce Bantamweight belt
with Rousey then playing the challenger.
But even though it went longer than
her previous four fights combined,
Rousey finished Tate off in the first with another arm bar
and claimed the belt, a belt that she would carry with her
into the UFC.
She became the first female fighter
to sign on to Dana White's promotion
and defended her belt with more arm bars,
then changed it up against Sara McMann
when she earned a technical knockout by a kicks to the body.
One title defense later,
she straight punched out Alexis Davis
needing just 16 seconds.
How does one follow up that?
Well, Rousey returned to her preferred method of victory
against Cat Zingano to score the fastest win
in UFC championship history.
That's the long winded way of saying
Rousey is absurdly talented, but also that right here,
the only women's bantamweight champ the UFC has ever known
is in some trouble.
Trouble that could either spell her first loss
or lead to one of most exciting finishes of her career.
As she's repeatedly shown,
all she needs is one opportunity to win a fight.
While Rousey is stumbling,
before we get into how she got bloodied,
let's look at who has been doing it.
Holly Holm, an absolute badass in her own right
but why is she here?
Well, Holm also has never lost in her MMA career
and just like Rousey she was extremely well decorated
before taking up the sport.
She got her start through kickboxing
but where Holm really made a name for herself was in boxing.
She had been a champion boxer who held the IBA
and WBF world titles.
She had successfully defended her titles
16 times across three different weight classes.
She was named female fighter of the year twice
by Ring Magazine.
So from simply a talent standpoint,
she is the best striker that Rousey has ever faced.
But even with an incredible resume,
Holm getting a shot at the title came as a major surprise.
As of early August, she was ranked just 9th
in the women's Bantamweight division
and only had two other UFC fights to her name.
After Rousey defended her title against Correia,
everyone assumed that would lead to the trilogy fight
of Rousey vs Tate.
Dana had said as much back in July.
So when this matchup was announced,
people were caught off guard.
The headlines focused on those who weren't getting a shot
or the reactions to this matchup
from others in the fight world,
but that was likely more than fine for Holm,
the determined clinical fighter from Albuquerque
who recognized this was the biggest fight of her career.
And whether Rousey believed it
or just knew how to hype a fight,
she gave Holm a ton of credit and said that
Holly would be her biggest challenge to date.
That's a pretty major statement
from someone doing the unprecedented move
of announcing their own fight on Good Morning America.
The closest Holm got to boasting
was when she pointed out that due to her skills,
if Rousey were to win,
it would be another feather in her cap.
The fighter that many were writing off
viewed herself as an opportunity for the champion
who was already considered an all time great,
but even with both sides explaining why
it was an incredible matchup,
not much would have changed the minds of skeptics.
Holm like many before her
was a massive underdog entering the fight.
as Chuck Mindenhall put it,
the UFC hoisting her into the spotlight
was like sampling something before it was ready.
But then again does that actually matter?
Rousey's previous challengers were all seasoned
and we know how well they fared.
Maybe the UFC knew what it was doing
by offering a fresh face instead of giving Rousey the chance
to sweep the trilogy.
Either way they definitely got lucky
because so far this is more unexpected
than anyone could have guessed.
Holm has not shied away from the challenge
and just looking at Rousey, she knows she's in a hole.
But before we get to why that is,
let's focus on where we are and how we got here.
I promise it helps.
So this is Etihad Stadium.
It's used primarily for cricket matches,
but for the first time ever, the UFC came to Melbourne.
Originally though Rousey vs Holm was set for January
in Las Vegas at UFC 195,
but just a week after that was announced,
everything changed.
With Lawler injured, the Women's Bantamweight Championship
took over as headliner on the November card.
While they had nearly three months heads up,
it did expedite the process.
And with a little less time to build hype,
the champion became the promoter.
See on top of her MMA prowess,
Rousey had become extremely marketable
in a way the sport really hadn't seen.
She was one of the highest paid female athletes
in part thanks to roles in "Furious 7" and "The Expendables 3."
She made the cover of ESPN's The Body Issue
and had even beat out Serena Williams
in an ESPN best female athlete vote,
proof that Rousey had deservedly become a household name.
And that meant she could be a business tool
for the UFC who sent her out
on seemingly endless appearances ahead of 193.
She hosted an episode of SportsCenter on ESPN.
She joined the Fox crew for the NFL Sunday countdown
but the big appearance was The Tonight Show.
Rousey talked up the challenge of Holm
and proved to know what she was talking about
when previewing the matchup.
- This one's gonna be a much longer fight
because she's a 19-time boxing world champion
with 100% take down defense in like head kick knockout.
I mean she's the biggest threat definitely to me.
- [Will Buikema] But when giving her full prediction,
she also had a sense of what to expect
and how Holly might look to pull off the upset.
- I feel like she's gonna try and like keep distance
and keep far away from me, getting me frustrated
until a point I'll make a mistake
and she can try kick me in the head
but it's not gonna go like that.
(audience laugh)
Not the way that she wants.
- [Will Buikema] However Holm was gonna try it,
she had some pretty good folks training her.
And as her opponent did promo after promo,
Holm just kept training with minimal headlines created.
She was more than calm
in the months leading up to the fight.
The closest she came to trash talk
was saying that she had been envisioning how she would win
but really just seemed thankful for the opportunity.
Rousey on the other hand,
began to proudly wear her confidence.
She offered advice to Holm in a backhanded way
saying she wouldn't enjoy the life of a champion,
would be happier as a contender
and that she hoped Holly would just accept the loss
and enjoy the benefits that came from losing to Rousey.
She didn't stop there though.
Rousey seemed to have already looked past Holm
and expand those thoughts to the entire division.
Unsurprisingly, Holm remained unflappable,
maintaining a more positive anything-can-happen
sort of mindset.
And that, that lack of reaction was what it took
to fully draw Rousey's ire.
Facing off for one final time before the fight,
the two had to be restrained by Dana White at weigh ins.
Holm didn't seem to be bothered by the dustup.
- I don't know, was just having a drink, you know.
(audience laugh)
- [Will Buikema] But Rousey took
a slightly different approach.
- I just wanted to get in her face
and show her that I was there for a reason.
That fake sweet act is, I see right through it.
I really do.
It's all fake.
All until now.
All that respect, all that everything, all you being sweet,
I see it right now that it's fake
and you're gonna get it on Sunday.
- [Will Buikema] Whether that was genuine
or just a late push for more pay-per-view buys,
it's up for debate.
But it was the climax of a kind of bizarre back and forth.
The champion growing annoyed with her challenger,
even annoyed with the potential challengers down the road,
the fighter right in front of her remaining laser focused
on the upcoming fight
and not giving her anything to use as material
and everyone just waiting for the fight to start.
Okay, finally how did we get to this point in tonight.
Well, when the pair finally met in the Octagon,
Rousey continued her animosity towards Holm.
When the challenger offered her fists,
Rousey spurned the glove touch and quickly went to her side.
Once Herb Dean got things going,
it was obvious there would be no record finish.
They circled and sized one another up
and although Rousey was the first throw a punch,
Holm was the first to connect.
Rousey continued to be the aggressor
but Holm kept her at bay even landing an oblique kick
followed by a quick right.
A little over a minute into the 1st
and Rousey connected with her first punch
but Holm shrugged it off.
Shortly after they clinched
and as Ronda worked Holm against the fence,
Joe Rogan raised concern for the challenger.
- [Joe Rogan] This is not what Holly wants.
Definitely does not want to be clinching with Ronda.
- [Will Buikema] But as Holm worked herself out of it,
she also caught Rousey high with a kick.
They traded punches and took their time
but as Rousey approached,
Holm stepped in with a huge left elbow.
That left the pair spinning for control though
and the champ managed to take Holm down for the first time.
Rousey did all she could to get the arm,
but Holm squeezed out of it and back to her feet.
Just as Rousey predicted for as great of a striker
as Holm is, she's not too bad on defense either.
They continued trading but anything Rousey landed,
Holm responded with a punch even bigger
or repeated kicks to the upper leg.
One of the bigger shots came with 1:19 left in the round.
As Rousey closed in Holm quickly met her with the left
that rocked Ronda.
That was followed with another
as Rousey's hands drifted down
and although it wasn't too damaging,
Holm managed to take down Rousey with under a minute left.
They got right back up but it was proof
that Ronda was exhausted.
She did her best to chase the challenger
but as the first round wrapped up,
it felt like Rousey was just as shocked as the crowd.
As the Bell sounded, the champ went to her corner bloodied
and needing answers.
Realistically, it was the first round Rousey had ever lost
in her professional career
and at the start of the second, it was more of the same.
Ronda played the aggressor
and Holm took the opportunities that were given.
Only 30 seconds in and Ronda went for a left
that Holm ducked under which sent Rousey to her knee
and into the fence
leaving the commentators with just one word.
- [Commentators] Wow!
- Wow!
Rousey looked to slow things down
and as she stopped rushing, the pair danced.
Each fighter looked for an opening to take
knowing that regardless of how it had gone up to this point,
any good shot could end it.
Which brings us here, seconds away from history.
A challenger who has dominated the fight
in a way hardly anyone saw coming.
The former boxing world champ whose selection for this card
left people scratching their heads.
But if she could hang on here,
would end one of the greatest runs the sport has ever seen.
Still it's a huge ask.
Rousey's proven time and again
that she doesn't need much to end it.
She's the only women's Bantamweight champion in UFC history.
And while this has been her toughest fight yet,
there's no one that would count her out
until it's all said and done.
Someone has to hoist the belt
and someone has to suffer their first loss.
Welcome to a moment in history.
- [Commentators] Beautiful.
Beautiful.
She's hurt.
Holly looking to finish.
Holly Holm is the new UFC Bantamweight Champion
of the world.
- [Will Buikema] Hey thanks for watching.
If you want more of that good good fight content,
check out this beef history.
Or if you want more Rewinder,
well we've got that too.
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(light music)