UFC stunner: Holly Holm stops Ronda Rousey in 2nd round

No one expected it… but Holly Holm upset UFC star Ronda Rousey, shocking the world with a knockout victory on Saturday night (Nov. 14) at UFC 193.

One last kick to Rousey’s head sent her to the canvas, as fans at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia, were treated to one of the greatest upsets in MMA history.

UFC 193 took place in Melbourne, Australia to a crowd of 56,214 at Etihad Stadium, a soccer stadium.

As usual, the UFC bantamweight champion will stride to the octagon to the fittingly rowdy sounds of her walkout song, Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” “The song was ideal”, Rousey has said.

Holm used her superior footwork and striking to stay out of Rousey’s grappling range for most of the opening round and peppered her with nasty counter punches as she aggressively rushed forward.

Holm, who previously was a boxing welterweight champion, delivered a left-footed kick to Rousey’s neck that floored the champion. I have not spent this much time in the gym before any fight in my life…

Former boxing world champion Holm has now become the first person to ever win world titles in both boxing and mixed martial arts.

“That was actually something we worked on”, Holm said after the fight.

“At the end of the day I made this fight”. She picked apart a striker in Bethe Correia at UFC 190, but if she wants to display her striking in this fight, she could find herself losing. “She’s won a lot of fights and imposed her will on a lot of fighters”, Holm stated. She was simply marvelous in this fight, making Rousey fight exactly the way she needed Rousey to fight to have a chance at winning.

As Rousey approached Holm for the staredown, the challenger put her fist in Rousey’s face and the champion responded with a raised elbow to swat her away.