World reacts to Rousey’s shock being knocked unconscious

Herald Sun

Dan Elsom and Matt Young

November 16,2015

THE woman originally expected to challenge Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 has launched an explosive tirade just moments after the fallen fighter’s supreme reign as the best female fighter in the UFC came to an end.

Headlining UFC 193 in front of a record crowd at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium, Rousey was expected to defend her bantamweight championship against Miesha Tate before the official announcement she would instead go up against notorious stand-up fighter Holly Holm.

Tate was publicly promised a championship fight but the UFC backtracked and booked Holm instead, so she threatened retirement and blamed the UFC for mismanagement.

“I am extremely disappointed how all the events unfolded this morning regarding news that I will not be fighting Ronda Rousey,” Tate said in September.

“I was told after my last win that I had earned the title shot. I’ve already begun training for Rousey and I was shocked to hear the announcement this morning. I regret this for not only myself, but my team, sponsors and the fans who like me believed my next fight was for the title.”

But it seems Tate is having the last laugh.

With most expecting the fight to be over in the first round in favour of the undefeated champion, Holm silenced any doubters when she knocked Rousey out with a swift left-foot kick to the jaw, followed by a flurry of punches.

The former WBF female world welterweight champion boxer extended her undefeated mixed martial arts record to 10-0 and became the first fighter in the sport’s history to have held both a world boxing title and UFC title.

After the shock loss, Tate, who was hosting a UFC 193 party at Sapphire Las Vegas, didn’t hold back when asked what she thought of the outcome.

“I’m f-cking stoked; f-ck Ronda Rousey,” Tate told MMA News Source.

“F-ck her and her ‘Nobody has the right to beat me.’ Nobody has the right to beat you? Well you just got beat, b-tch. … Anyways, I’m proud of Holly. She had a perfect, flawless game plan. She came in with it (Saturday) and now she is the champion.”

Tate said she believes she should be the first to challenge the new world champ, telling the Las Vegas audience, “I’m looking forward to that fight, I think I’m next in line.”

See how the rest of the world reacted to the shock upset.

THE FIGHTERS

The happiest woman in the octagon.

RONDA Rousey was taken to hospital immediately after the bout, thus missing the post-fight conference.

“She was transported because she was knocked out, No.1, and her lip was split in half,” Dana White said of Rousey.

“Obviously she was completely depressed.”

While a victorious Holm spoke of her disbelief in securing the championship.

“I don’t know, I’m trying to take it all in. This is crazy!” Holm said.

“Getting in here, I just felt so much support — I thought, ‘How can I not do this with all this support?’ I had the best coaching, from standup to grappling to wrestling.

“I have to say, everything we worked on presented itself in the fight. Every grab she tried to get, on the cage — I have not spent this much time in the gym before any fight in my life.”

DANA WHITE AND UFC

UFC boss Dana White spoke on behalf of Rousey after the fight, saying she was “devastated” but physically OK.

White entertained the idea that a rematch between the pair could follow, which would in turn have implications for other fighters who had expressed interest in challenging Rousey.

“A rematch makes a lot of sense,” White said.

“I think the rematch is what people will want to see. It changes a lot of things — Cyborg (Cris Justino) fight, some other stuff we were working on. It’s one of those moments, these are the moments in fighting that make it so crazy and so fun. Tonight was one of those moments.”

White also said he felt Rousey would have had more to answer Holm’s attack.

“It’s been an interesting camp for her and a rough couple months,” he said.

“It’s impossible to say it doesn’t have an impact, even though she’s mentally the strongest person I’ve ever met. She’s human.

“The fight went down the way that I thought the fight would go down. I thought Ronda would have more answers.”

“Every time someone goes on a win streak and do things forever and then they lose, people say they were exposed,” he said.

“I don’t think Ronda was exposed tonight. She just got beat.”

While further comment from Rousey herself remains to be heard, the official Twitter account of the UFC congratulated a victorious Holly Holm on her achievement.

The organisation’s figure head in White tweeted after the final press conference, thanking Australian fans for their record breaking attendence.

THE MEDIA

A rematch seems imminent.

REPORTS of the bout all shared an undertone of shock, regardless of their praise for the former boxing star.

MMA Junkie described Holm’s victory as the biggest in the history of the sport.

“The most dominant athlete on the planet got dominated. The nearly unthinkable happened: Ronda Rousey was beat up by Holly Holm and lost her UFC title.

“In arguably the biggest upset in the history of the sport, Rousey was knocked out by Holly Holm 59 seconds into the second round. Rousey was as much as a 20-1 favourite leading into the fight.”

Los Angeles Times writer Todd Martin claimed the fight would have significant financial reward for White’s organisation, as a rematch would likely be scheduled between the pair.

“For UFC, it’s likely a big victory. Rousey’s star is already so high and it sets up what will be a massive money rematch, perhaps at UFC 200 next year,” Martin wrote.

Martin also claimed it was a reputation-damaging week for Rousey, who reacted aggressively when the two fighters faced off during the live weigh-in.

“For Rousey, it was a bad weekend. She came off as a bad sportswoman insulting and refusing to touch gloves with the even tempered and good natured Holm and then fought a wild, dangerous fight that didn’t show sufficient respect for her opponent’s ability.”

Lyle Fitzsimmons of cbssports.com likened Rousey’s loss to that of boxing legend Mike Tyson.

“If you’re a boxing fan, you remember where you were when Mike Tyson lost,” Fitzsimmons wrote.

“And now, if you’re a UFC fan, you’ll remember the early hours of Sunday morning.

“That’s when the freight train that is Ronda Rousey burst from her locker room, charged down the aisle to the strains of Joan Jett’s ‘Bad Reputation,’ stepped into the cage... and got her aura kicked.”

UFC COMMUNITY

MEMBERS of the UFC community expressed a mixed opinion on the bout, as some called for fans to be sympathetic towards the defeated champ, while others praised Holm for the “perfect fight.”