Holly Holm Steals The Show At UFC 193 | Breaking Barriers (2024)

Of course, the bantamweight champion’s weapon of choice was her armbar, but it was the same premise; it wasn’t if she was going to get you, but how long it was going to take. Unbeaten in 12 fights, the former Olympic judoka for the United States terrorized the 135-pound weight class, making good fighters look like they didn’t belong in the Octagon with her.

Liz Carmouche. Sara McMann. Alexis Davis. Cat Zingano. All gone in a round, with Carmouche the only one to make it past the 66 second mark. Miesha Tate made it to the third round of their 2013 rematch, but the result was the same – Rousey by finish.

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In August of 2015, “Rowdy” Ronda traveled to Rio De Janeiro and showed off another wrinkle in her game as she scored the second knockout win of her career, needing just 15 seconds to end Bethe Correia’s night.

She was the sport’s undisputed superstar, complete with the Sports Illustrated cover describing her as “The World’s Most Dominant Athlete.” How visible was the Californian on the world scene? After the Correia fight, she announced her next bout on ABC’s Good Morning America.

The opponent?

Holly Holm.

“It was definitely a shock, but I was super excited right away,” Holm said on the day of the announcement. “I don’t want it to be any different than another fight. I don’t want to get too anxious or psyche myself out with stuff like that. It’s time to put a game plan together and train. So I didn’t get up necessarily to watch it, but when I got up, my phone was blown up from everybody that had watched it.”

At the time, Holm was unbeaten and two fights into a UFC career that followed a stellar run in boxing that landed her in the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame. “The Preacher’s Daughter” was a big deal in her former sport and was on her way to the same status in MMA. But Ronda? Now? There was the general consensus that Holm wasn’t the next test for the champ, just next. It was an opinion that didn’t deter Holm.

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“I don’t let it really bother me too much,” she said. “I figure every fight is the fight I need to win, whether I walk in as the underdog or as the favorite, so the actual title of it doesn’t affect me mentally at all.”

An offer of a touch of gloves by Holm was refused by Rousey during referee Herb Dean’s instructions, but “The Preacher’s Daughter” got even quickly, sticking and moving effectively in the early going. In the second minute, Rousey finally closed the distance and clinched with Holm against the fence, but the challenger got free and went back to using every inch of the Octagon real estate. Midway through the frame, Rousey got a takedown and it looked like it might have been over, but again, Holm eluded trouble, rose to her feet and went back to work. And as the round progressed, Holm’s left wasn’t missing the target, and she even scored a takedown in the final minute. By the end of the round, Rousey was bloodied and breathing heavy.

After the worst round of her professional career, Rousey came out aggressively for the second, but her porous defense was about to be her downfall. As the opening minute came to a close, a straight left rocked Rousey, and as the Californian staggered, Holm cracked her with a flush left kick to the head. Rousey crumbled to the canvas - her head hitting the deck hard - and after three follow up punches, Dean stopped the fight at 59 seconds of round two, capping off the stunning upset.