Rousey Loses, But Was It an Upset?

Storyline: For Holly Holm it was like a rabbit fighting a dragon. Before this fight Ronda Rousey had been challenged only by mice. Written by Hector Estremera, Jr., East Hartford, CT.

UFC 193 is over and the results are in the books. Despite the stacked card and implications of all the results in their respective divisions, there’s only one story coming out of this night … and we all know what it was.

It’s unfortunate, too, because Joanna Jedrzejczyk was coming into the night with one of the most dominant title wins in UFC history. But that was lost on most fans because of her unknown status and the youth of her division. It’s unfair to Jedrzejczyk, but UFC 193 belongs to the new Women’s Bantamweight Champion, Holly Holm.

Courtesy: FoxSports,com

The UFC had built the fight between Rousey and Holm the same way it promotes every title fight–touting Holm as the most dangerous threat to Rousey’s title yet. In fairness, that’s true, but for most people that fact didn’t misdirect from the perceived disparity between Rousey and every other female fighter in the world. Sure, Holm was the biggest threat so far, but what does that mean when your talking about a champion who hadn’t even had an hour of fight time in her entire career? She’s a fighter whose opponents measured success in how many seconds they could last. Sure, Holm was the biggest threat, but she was the first rabbit to fight a dragon that had been challenged by mice.

Of course, there’s my beloved hardcore fan base, who knew Holm had a real chance–a fighter with a storied career in Boxing and Kickboxing, littered with World Titles and a record of 33-2. In the transition to MMA Holm utilized her superior striking to maintain a perfect record, and she was coming into the night with more than a puncher’s chance to stand and bang with Ronda.

Holm was supposed to stick and move for 25 minutes, tentatively stepping and throwing feints, measuring her range and using distance to dance around Rousey a la Mayweather. She was supposed to be scared of what Rousey might do if she got too close. But from the first crack of leather on skin Rousey looked like a schoolyard bully getting a mean dose of karma. By the end of the first round Ronda looked like a little sister–desperately button mashing in an all or nothing attempt to gain the upper hand.

When the horn sounded for Round 2 Rousey’s gameplan had gone out the window. She continued her aggressive assault desperately swinging huge, winging punches. Although aesthetic it was a pathetic attempt to close the distance and work for her “signature” armbar. Holm, on the other hand, stayed patient and continued to shuffle in and out of range as she circled Rousey, cutting angles and landing her huge left at will. Holm broke Rousey’s spirit and exposed her armbar for what it really is–her blankie.

Courtesy; HollyHolm.com

Holm absolutely trounced Ronda from bell to bell, making her look out of place in the octagon. When Holm ducked Ronda’s morse-coded left hand, Rousey took a knee before confusedly spinning back to the fight. The audience held its breath and Holm cemented her place in history as the real ‘White Iverson.’

Less than 60 seconds later Rousey was on the mat from a brutal headkick unconsciously eating punches as Herb Dean’s brain tried to process what was happening. From there on the story is boilerplate: there were tears, shock, and Joe Rogan looking like a cartoon thermometer on a hot day in the desert just before it pops.

Holly Holm is the new Women’s Bantamweight Champion and she did it in brutal fashion. It’s too bad that the story of the day is that Holm beat ROUSEY. The fact is that Holm had trained and worked hard to get to this point in her career,. But most of us measure her success against what Ronda had done.

Ronda Rousey has done a lot for getting women into a new niche of our culture–where they can fight and still be beautiful women–and who rely on their talents to achieve goals and let beauty be nothing but the cherry on top. But Holm has done the exact same thing.

UFC 193 broke a lot of records, but if Holm’s next fight isn’t the rematch, will those numbers even be close? Don’t count on it. In the post-fight interview Joe Rogan said it was the most dominant title win ever. Is that really the case? No. As I said, Jedrzejczyk was coming off an equally, if not more dominant win, over Carla Esparza. The sad truth is this: for most people Holly Holm’s win will be remembered as Rousey’s loss. Rousey has been held up as a model of strength and independence for women. To her credit, that was her aspiration and (for a time) she has achieved it. But, in truth, was she anything more than a talented “pretty face” being exploited by society’s attitude toward women?

We justify our behavior by idolizing this beautiful woman for her fighting prowess. But is there a real expectation that will transfer over to Holm, who emphatically proved her superior skills this past weekend? I doubt it. Her image doesn’t fit the Hollywood mold. And after she makes the rounds to talk about Ronda and how it felt to beat Ronda, she’ll likely fade into the background.

And, if that happens, then it’s really too bad for the casual fan–a fan who just likes to watch a good fight. The stark truth is that ladies can really scrap.