Remember in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy defeats the Wicked Witch of the West and your reaction was, “Wait, all they needed to do was splash her with a bit of water? That’s it? Really?”
Now, it’s not my intention to demean Ronda Rousey by comparing her to the Wicked Witch, but that’s the feeling many onlookers had when they saw Holly Holm completely outclass the seemingly invincible Rousey at UFC 193.
Rousey could do no wrong in the eyes of most fight fans because she had essentially been flawless throughout her entire MMA career up to that point. She was branded as “the most dominant fighter on the planet” by the UFC. Was she so dominant because of her phenomenal ability? Of course that had a lot to do with it, but it also had to do with the fact none of her opponents fought her the way you need to fight someone with Rousey’s skill set.
Rousey is a bull. She charges at you, physically dominates you, leaves your body and ego broken. And if you charge at her, you get the same result.
Cat Zingano drew up the blueprint on what not to do against Rousey at UFC 184 in February. She recklessly rushed at her, took her own base away by leaving her feet on a flying knee attempt, and then initiated a clinch with the Olympic bronze medallist.
Here are reasons why Holm was able to exploit Rousey and capture the gold.
Movement
Instead of making the same mistake as Rousey’s previous opponents, Holm played the role of matador. It was the first time in Rousey’s career where her opponent fought intelligently, patiently, circled out and melded a perfect balance of caution and aggression.
Holm’s boxing credentials are impressive yet her hands weren’t the only key to her victory. More than anything it was her movement. With all her years of striking experience, Holm’s implementation of ring/cage generalship is far more advanced than most mixed martial artists.
Prior to the bout, Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, respected MMA striking coach Jason Parillo and FOX Sports’ Elias Cepeda illustrated how Rousey uses her jab to close the distance on her opponents in order to clinch up.
Holm’s lateral movement prevented Rousey from succeeding with this tactic.
This wasn’t merely a counterstriking clinic, though. Holm was the aggressor often in the fight, only she went about it intelligently. She waited for the optimal time to throw her strikes, something she has done throughout her MMA career.
Defensive grappling
While the highlight-reel finish is what everyone will remember about this bout, the most impressive part of the fight was the way in which Holm nullified Rousey’s grappling attacks.
Holm’s wrestling coach Izzy Martinez describes Holm as having “fierce hips” in relation to her takedown defence. Holm, even though she was the taller fighter, did a fantastic job at keeping her hips lower than Rousey’s.
Rousey doesn’t get her takedowns with wrestling techniques like most MMA fighters do. She is a judoka, which means she relies almost exclusively on the clinch. Against a rangy fighter with a high fight IQ like Holm, Rousey had a difficult time trapping Holm in her grappling radius. And when Rousey did get close enough to attempt a headlock to set up a throw, the new champ used her arms to keep Rousey’s hips away from her own, tucked her elbows close to her body, used the cage to her advantage and maintained solid posture.
Here is a terrific breakdown of some of the more technical elements of the fight courtesy of acclaimed MMA trainer Firas Zahabi (Georges St-Pierre and Rory MacDonald’s coach).
Holm’s camp brought in a young man named Maxamillian Schneider, an Olympic hopeful, to help her prepare for Rousey’s judo attacks. It clearly paid off.
“Everything that we worked on presented itself in the fight,” Holm said after her win. “Every grab that she tried to get, the clinch on the cage, and I just had the help of everything … I had not spent this much time in the gym before any fight in my life, and some days I thought, ‘Ugh this is like my fifth workout of the day. Nope. I have my hands full and I need to go. If I can’t focus right now, I won’t be able to focus in the fight.’ Everything we worked on happened [in the fight].”
Rousey’s aggression backfired on her
Rousey’s stock was at an all-time high after her knockout win over Bethe Correia at UFC 190 in the summer. She showed that in addition to her elite grappling she had legitimate knockout power in her hands. However, in that fight, her sloppy boxing technique was visible. Rousey looks great hitting pads, but her blitzkrieg attack against Correia was far from perfect or technical.
Against a striker like Holm — a former WBF, IBA, WBAN, NABF and WIBA world boxing champion and a talented kickboxer to boot — you can’t afford to make the mistakes Rousey is prone to making on her feet, and you can’t rush forward in a straight line.
Mindset
This may seem inconsequential or cliché to say Holm was the stronger fighter mentally, but this was apparent during fight week. Holm wasn’t intimidated by Rousey one bit when many of Rousey’s previous opponents were overwhelmed by her skills and the pressure of being in the main event spotlight. Greg Jackson told MMAFighting’s Ariel Helwani after the fight that Holm is “one of the most mentally tough individuals we’ve ever had the pleasure of training.”
Holm’s stoic response to Rousey’s antics at the weigh-ins was a sign that she would also remain calm and focused in the cage. On the flipside, while Rousey is always intense at weigh-ins and press conferences, she had never lost her temper like she did with Holm, a respectful fighter who is universally liked.
There were also some issues in Rousey’s camp heading into the bout. Rousey’s mother AnnMaria De Mars openly criticized her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, calling him “a terrible coach” and “a bad person.” Rousey wouldn’t comment on this pre-fight, but you can imagine that being an unnecessary distraction in the weeks leading up to the event.
MMA is as much about stylistic matchups as it is about skill, fitness or toughness. Rousey and Holm will have their rematch at some point in 2016 and if Rousey wants her belt back she’ll need to make some serious adjustments because it’s no longer a one-woman division.