As the old Mike Tyson quote goes, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Ronda Rousey learned this the hard way during her first UFC loss in 2015. At the time, Rousey was a huge star in UFC, rivalling Conor McGregor. She had such a dominant presence that even UFC CEO Dana White and commentator Joe Rogan claimed she could beat undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather in an MMA fight. However, Rousey’s unbeatable aura shattered dramatically when Holly Holm knocked her out with a head kick. Rousey went from UFC’s darling to an overrated fighter in one night, and she doesn’t remember much of it.
In a recent Q&A promoting her autobiography, “Our Fight,” Rousey revealed what went wrong against Holm. She admitted she didn’t get to test her game plan after Holm’s first punch knocked her teeth loose, leaving her dazed from the start. “My process was usually planning the first exchange and improvising from there,” Rousey explained. “With Holm, I intended to keep her off the centre line and bully her against the cage. But after the first punch, I was on autopilot.”
Rousey described her typical strategy, like in her fight against Miesha Tate, where she forced Tate into making mistakes, leading to one of her signature armbars. But with Holm, the early concussion made it impossible to execute her plan or think coherently. She also mentioned that her coaches didn’t play a huge role during the fight. “I don’t hear anything my corner’s saying,” she said, recounting how her mother often sent her to judo tournaments without a coach to build her independence. Despite the criticism her coaches faced, Rousey believes that once the fight started, nothing could change the course it took.
