Down goes Rousey in UFC stunner . . . they’re already talking rematch
By producing a remarkable upset of Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm has earned the chance to duplicate it.
Dana White, the Ultimate Fighting Championship president, told reporters Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, that he’ll pursue a rematch between his former champion and the still-unbeaten Holm, who stands as the first-ever boxing and UFC champion.
“A rematch is what a lot of people want to see,” White said after Holm (10-0) knocked out Rousey (12-1) early in the second round with a devastating left kick to the head that rendered the former champion briefly unconscious and sent her to a local hospital for precautionary reasons.
“Obviously . . . biggest upset ever,” White told Fox Sports 1 after the fight. “When you look at how Ronda is revered — baddest woman on the planet — definitely.”
White said following Rousey’s knockout of Bethe Correia on Aug. 1 that he was leaning toward making No. 1 contender Miesha Tate the next foe for Rousey. But conversations with matchmakers inside UFC offices shifted the focus to Holm since Rousey had beaten Tate twice and because Holm, a former boxing world champion, boasted a one-inch height and reach advantage on Rousey.
Something different became something monumental.
“I made this fight. This is the fight I went after,” White said. “Holly — we said it all the time — had the range, uses her distance very well, has great head kicks. Everything we talked about is essentially what went down.”
The southpaw Holm not only slipped out of Rousey’s usually lethal grasps in the first round, she repeatedly landed left-handed punches to Rousey’s head and once buried a left elbow to her face.
White said he originally planned for Rousey to return at UFC 200 in July. She’s involved in a film, starring in Patrick Swayze’s former bouncer role in a remake of Roadhouse.