It’s been almost three months since Ronda Rousey’s dreams of retiring undefeated from the Ultimate Fighting Championship were cut painfully short.
The dream ended the night Holly Holm’s thunderous kick-heard-round-the-world sent the former UFC’s fighter-turned-celebrity to the canvas in front of a shocked, record-breaking crowd in Melbourne Australia’s Etihad Stadium.
Holm, a decorated 19-time world-boxing champion, had just delivered a performance that only her coaches, teammates and a select handful of diehard fans came to expect. It’s hard to believe Holm entered the octagon as a massive underdog who many believed would be another victim to the killer Rousey machine. That night, odds in Las Vegas were 12-1 in favor of ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey.
Who in their right mind would be willing bet money on the Preacher’s Daughter? Holm was up against an opponent who was regarded as the best female athlete in the world. A fighter engulfed in a cloud of mystique and fable that extended beyond human capability. To the public, Ronda Rousey was invincible.
Rousey became an international fighting sensation in the mixed martial art world after coming off an impressive bronze medal in Judo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Thus, becoming the first American woman to earn top honors in the sport’s history. That year, at the age of 21, Rousey officially retired from judo and joined the largest mixed martial arts organization in the world — the UFC.
Ronda’s mobility as an experienced judoka translated well into the sport almost instantaneously. Rousey has a knack for getting her opponents onto the ground fast. She entered with the advantage of a fighter who knew how to levee weight, shift position and tangle opponents within her limbs.
The Beginning
Rousey was introduced to judo as a young girl by her mother, Dr. AnnMaria De Mars. Like her daughter, De Mars was a trailblazer for American athletes in the otherwise foreign sport, becoming the first American to win gold at the World Judo Championships in 1984. Despite her daughter’s age, De Mars demanded a military-like focus from Ronda, pushing her to train through sickness, a broken toe and through the young fighter’s sleep. Some mornings Ronda was awoken by her mother, expected to defend a notorious judo technique that would become the benchmark of her fighting career.
It was only a matter of time before Rousey’s name became synonymous with the dreaded technique, known in the mixed martial arts world as the “arm bar.” The move earned Ronda various submission wins throughout the course of her fighting career against world-class fighters. She became a living archetype, revered as the “arm collector,” dominating opponent after opponent through a series of masterful executions that had become a crowd favorite.
The move itself is a complex series of movements that involve taking the opponent down to the ground, closing body space until a full mount is accomplished and eventually isolating an exposed arm before “going in for the kill.” Hugged to the chest, Rousey arcs her back until the arm is fully hyperextended. When applied right, the technique will strain ligaments and eventually tear muscles on the victim’s upper shoulder. Opponents usually tap out before career-threatening injuries are inflicted.
The rise of Ronda Rousey was characterized by an extraordinary series of dominating fights that catapulted her into the national spotlight. However, like her judo career, the backstory to this rise can is rooted in her childhood.
She was named Ronda after her dad, Ron Rousey, when she was born February 1, 1987. Ronda had been birthed with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. The episode influenced much of Rousey’s early cognitive development, which was later attributed to an early speech impediment she had as a child. As she grew up, she became involved with sports — first swimming and eventually judo with the support of her family. “You’re going to win the Olympics,” she remembers her father telling her.
Rousey grew up like most kids in America during the early 90s. She was a fan of Nickelodeon, and was an accomplished Pokémon trainer who regularly attended competitions and trading card expos at local malls. Growing up, Rousey felt she didn’t reflect the typical feminine image. As Rousey discovered sports, she became more confidant in her physical appearance, and slowly transitioned into outspoken athlete she is today.
When Ronda was eight, her father committed suicide by asphyxia after a sledding accident left him suffering with chronic and degenerative back pain a few years prior. The loss was completely unexpected and has devastated the fighter ever since. The loss of her father had a profound influence on the fighter. She claims his death was the most formidable event of her life. She still cries in interviews that bring him up.
In the years following her Olympic performance, Ronda found herself at a new all-time-low. She was a retired Judo competitor, homeless and wanted to live life on the edge. During this period, she had burned through most of her $10,000 earnings from her Beijing bout, developed an addiction to marijuana and Vicodin and became a bartender. One night at work she saw a fight from a bar’s wall-side television. “I can totally do that,” she thought.
In a matter of months Ronda’s world would completely change. After an impressive showing in her earlier fights, she was approached by UFC President Dana White, and was told he wanted to open a women’s division in the sport. He wanted to start it and have it centered on Rousey.
She accepted.
Entrance into the UFC World
The decision sent shockwaves throughout the UFC world, considering White told reporters a year earlier he would never allow women in the sport because there wasn’t a profitable market for it. At the time of her fight with Holly Holm, Ronda Rousey had not only become the highest paid athlete in the UFC, out of both women and men, but also staged the highest grossing fight in the UFC’s history.
She was a rock star, becoming known internationally as fighter who was tearing apart opponents in seconds. One fight satisfied the entire duration of an Instagram video. The reason for the incredibly fast fights was Rousey’s sheer dominance. She not only beat her world-class opponents, she was beating them senseless.
In a landmark fight against Bethe Correia, tensions ran high after the Brazilian adversary mocked Rousey with suicidal remarks. “I hope she doesn’t kill herself,” Correia responded to a question regarding Ronda’s actions following the fight. This time a feud was sparked like no others before it–the comments hit a little too close to home. This time it was personal.
Rousey entered the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, in her opponent’s home country of Brazil. Ronda was greeted to a cascade of taunts and boos from a crowd who was undoubtedly in favor of Correia.
The fight was over in thirty-four seconds.
When it was over, the then-undefeated champion was met with applause. How quickly the crowd had turned. “To bring my family into it, they don’t deserve that and they didn’t ask for that. I need to make sure nobody else tries that ever again,” she said.
Rousey found herself riding a cloud of celebrity status that no fighter in the UFC had ever accomplished. Moviegoers were treated to cameos of the former champion in summer blockbusters that included Expendables 3, Entourage and Furious 7. Her influence was felt far and wide. As the fight neared, an endorsement for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a relationship-turned-scandal to UFC fighter Travis Browne, and a public statement dismissing herself status as the quintessential “do nothing bitch” rattled media headlines.
She was beginning to be regarded as the single greatest female athlete in the world by celebrities and sports reporters alike. Nobody questioned her dominance. The question everyone was questioning that no one had answered was not only who could beat her, but could anyone beat her. After all, she was invincible.
Enter the Preacher’s Daughter
As the houselights dimmed, a Celtic anthem bounced and reverberated off the open space of the Etihad. With the swagger of a gladiator, down came Holly Holm to a tune appropriately titled “The Landlord’s Walk.” Focused and light on her feet, the five-foot eight native Burqueña had arrived, and it was clear she was looking for a fight.
As the lights were killed, a brief moment of silence ensued that drew a banshee-esque string of cheers that echoed the walls of the massive Melbourne stadium. The instant Rousey anthem Bad Reputation, by Joan Jett sounded from the speakers as its electric guitar and a smooth backbeat sounded from stadium speakers. The atmosphere in the Etihad transcended through television screens.
“She’s got the best mean face in the business,” sports reporters commented. “This is the main event of the evening…This is the moment UFC fans from around the world have been waiting for.”
The fight was on.
In the first minutes of the fight, Holm managed to dominate “Rowdy” at every turn. Holly kept a comfortable distance, adjusted to Rousey’s timing and (at times) used her opponent’s own takedown strategy as a defense against her.
The two danced their way around the octagon, gaining a feel for each other’s timing. Punches were thrown and dodged. Whether it was confidence or ego, Ronda made the surprising decision to engage with Holm’s stand up rather than relying on her ground game to control the match. She began to chase the former 19-time world-boxing champ around the ring, trying desperately to beat Holm at her own game.
Needless to say she paid the price. Fans were starting to see a side of Rousey that was unrecognizable. Her face was red from Holm’s contact, and her eyes sold out the rest of the body’s physical exhaustion. Her guard was down.
Holm dominated Rousey at every turn. She out-boxed Rowdy, threw her to the ground and successfully defended a couple of attempted arm bars much to everyone’s surprise. Holm entered the fight with the perfect game plan. Ronda was doomed from the start.
Needless to say the fight was over just as fast as it had started. It was the head kick heard-round-the-world. The Internet exploded with memes and videos depicting the violent performance that dethroned the former bantamweight world champion in only 59 seconds of the second round. How quickly the crowd had turned.
The Aftermath
The fight was so big, it attracted the attention celebrities like Lady Gaga and Donald Trump, who wrote tweets mocking the former champion. The pop star criticized, “See what happens when you don’t touch gloves” in response to Ronda’s poor sportsmanship before the fight. Not to be outdone, Trump-the business mogul-turned-presidential candidate- posted, “Glad to see @rondarousey lost her fight last night. Was soundly beaten – not a nice person!”
In some cases, local television stations refused to show footage of the attack because the nature of the kick was deemed “too violent for public view.” As Ronda laid dazed and oblivious on the canvas, Holm embraced her new championship title with all the grace a Preacher’s Daughter could muster.
“I just had so much love and support. I just felt like, how can I not do this with all that love, you know?” Holm became the first person to defeat Ronda Rousey. The victory also made the new bantamweight champion first person (male or female) to ever hold boxing and UFC world titles. It was a historic night.
“I couldn’t tell you how many times I cried in the gym leading up to this fight,” she admitted in the post-fight conference in front of an audience of sports reporters and journalists. “Those are the moments we live for…those are the moments that you need to dig deep.”
As Ronda made her way out of the stadium, cheers and applause interrupted the quiet discontent of the former champion. “The winner and new champion, Holly Holm. How does that sound? What does this feel like?” Questions, previously thought to have been reserved for Rousey, echoed off the walls. As the reality of the fight began to settle in, the pursuit of becoming the sports undefeated champion stayed shattered in the octagon. It was all over.
The events that unfolded during UFC 193 showed us the realities of what it’s like to be a real life rock star. We saw an individual being built upon a promise that was fundamentally unrealistic to maintain. Maybe the legendary, “once in a lifetime” athleticism of Rousey appealed to the public’s desire for a real-life superhero that broke through the clutter of the day-to-day average Joe’s we encounter every day. Fans didn’t necessarily want Rousey to win; they wanted someone to satisfy their desire for a real-life heroine. Rousey is human, no amount of wins (or loses) could change that.
Was the response to UFC a reflection of who we are as a society? Instead of entertaining the idea of invincibility, should we instead ask ourselves if it is really fair to hold another human being to such unrealistic expectations?
On the heels of UFC 196 this coming Saturday, Holm faces her first title defense against wrestling powerhouse, Miesha Tate. If Holm wins, could it mark the beginning of her legendary, once in a lifetime appeal for fans? We’ll let the fans decide.