Rousey was undefeated going into the fight at UFC 193 but she got knocked out by a devastating kick to the head.
On November 15th 2015 Holly Holm shocked the world by brutally knocking out Ronda Rousey, handing the former Olympian her first ever MMA loss.
Rousey was the face of female combat sport as she rose through the ranks of MMA and became the first UFC women’s champion in November 2012.
She became famed for her first round finishes, making her first seven opponents submit in the first five minutes, before Miesha Tate took her to the third round, but still suffered the same fate in the end.
The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist won four more first round fights after her one longer outing, taking her record to 12-0, including six defences of her UFC bantamweight title.
That’s when she came up against former boxer Holm. The Australian faced the American on home turf at UFC 193 in Melbourne and was a huge underdog.
Holm dominated the first round with strikes and the champion failed to get her challenger to the ground. As the first minute of the second round clocked up, Holm landed an incredible kick to the head to finish the fight and cause a huge shock.
Holm, who’d also competed in kickboxing, was a world champion boxer before moving to MMA. Was a 20-1 underdog before the fight.
She was 9-0 in MMA but had only fought twice in UFC before coming up against the previously untouchable Rousey.
UFC commentator, and podcast presenter, Joe Rogan summed up the shock of the result, and the nature of it, with his famous post fight reaction
Throwback to Joe Rogans reaction to Holly Holm KO’ing Rondo Rousey😂 pic.twitter.com/noidXIeXIA
— DailySportsDosage (@SportsDsd) November 7, 2020
Rousey took a year out after the loss and returned in December 2016 at UFC 207 to face Amanda Nunes, who was now the champion following Holm’s loss to Tate, who subsequently lost to Brazilian Nunes.
The new face of the division didn’t take long at all to beat the former champ as she ended it within 48 seconds of the start of round one with a flurry of punches that forced the referee to step in.
Speaking on the Ellen Degeneres show in 2016, Rousey explained how she felt after her first loss, saying, “I was sitting in the corner thinking ‘What am I anymore if I’m not this?’ And I was literally sitting there and thinking about killing myself and that exact second, I’m [thinking] ‘I’m nothing … what do I do anymore and no one gives a shit about me anymore without this.'”
When Amanda Nunes retired Ronda Rousey 😬
Ruthless.#UFC239 pic.twitter.com/p3C90pgPjK
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) June 30, 2019
Following her second loss, Rousey hung up the gloves and left the sport, before moving to WWE in January 2018, making her first appearance at Royal Rumble that year.
