Tuesday 17 November 2015 12:54, UK
Ronda Rousey lost her UFC championship and unblemished record in the most dramatic way as she was knocked out by Holly Holm on Saturday night.
The women's bantamweight title changed hands as the sport's pin-up girl, Rousey, was flattened by a head kick at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia.
What did we learn from the result? And what questions are still to be answered…
This shocking result was not caused by an errant punch or a pendulum-swinging injury - Holm dominated six minutes until brutally finishing the fight in the most conclusive possible manner, to the extent where it is already a challenge to formulate how Rousey can win a potential rematch.
The head kick knockout that sent the champion head-first to the canvas will remain as an enduring image for years to come and may come to define both women's careers unless they fight again. But for Holm, the real damage was done in a surprisingly one-sided first round where she shattered all illusions of Rousey's aura.
Keeping Rousey at an arm's length with expert understanding of distance, Holm peppered her with a left hand from the southpaw stance which drew blood. We already knew she could box but Holm, when briefly dragged down to the mat, navigated her way back to safety and even got her own takedown. Far from being a fluke, Holm's win became more and more likely as the clock ticked and the damage accumulated.
With hindsight it would be easy to reanalyse Rousey's feared skill-set and determine that it was exaggerated, while also reassessing how Holm's pro boxing career should have given her a reasonable chance of a knockout. Yet both judgments would be false - the reality is that Holm had shown little to suggest this result was coming.
The new champion, in her two prior UFC fights, eked out decision victories over a pair of middling contenders in Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau. Her boxing was crisp and her footwork accurate, but the truth is that both fights were tit-for-tat until she was deservedly awarded both wins.
Pre-UFC, Holm had brilliantly won a fight via a head kick but stepping up into the big league, she hadn't yet indicated a repeat of that moment. Rousey, meanwhile, was evolving into a powerful if not particularly technical puncher with her last three opponents lasting a combined 64 seconds. It was difficult to foresee Holm having the viciousness in her hands or feet to force a stoppage until the opening minute of the fight when her fists decidedly did the talking.
Rousey, on account of her quickfire victories and sharp tongue, has often been compared to Mike Tyson, the boxing legend who suffered his own shocking defeat in 1990 when losing his undefeated record and world titles to the unassuming Douglas.
Although the temptation may be obvious, it would be unfair to label Holm as the reincarnation of Douglas without allowing her the opportunity to aim for the stars herself. Unlike Douglas who lost his championships in his very next outing against Evander Holyfield, maybe she will be able to build on her showpiece victory and attain bigger and better things, particularly if she defends her new belt against Rousey.
Douglas was notoriously a 42-1 underdog when he knocked out Tyson and already aged 30 which mirrors the 34-year-old Holm's late arrival onto the world stage - although she would point towards her titles in boxing for justification. She now has a perfect 10-0 record as a MMA fighter, something Rousey can no longer boast, whereas Douglas arrived to fight the 37-0 Tyson with a modest 27-4-1 record.
Time will ultimately dictate whether Holm is the new Douglas. If she is unable to build on her achievement then the shocking kick that floored the Tyson-esque Rousey will forever define her but she will now be fighting to be more than just a footnote in history.
Rousey's mother infamously bad-mouthed her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, in the build-up to this fight which must inevitably raise questions about what she knows that the rest of us don't. Tarverdyan's star pupil was handed a humbling defeat and he, as well as Rousey, now has his back against the wall to prove himself.
The intimate chat after a round of fighting will always be a sacred moment between a trainer and combatant, two people who know each other's souls better than anybody from the outside could ever imagine - yet Tarverdyan delivered an odd assessment of a "brilliant" opening five minutes despite Rousey's bleeding face.
In the opposite corner, Holm's win was another positive result from the Jackson-Winkeljohn camp of New Mexico, the home of a mob of the UFC's top fighters and a pair of elite coaches. The likes of pound-for-pound supremo Jon Jones use the harsh, desert environment to train alongside fellow pros and it begs the question if Rousey would benefit from turning her back on Tarverdyan's California retreat where she is the star of the show.
The short-term answer has been confirmed because Rousey, win or lose, always planned to swap the gym for the film set to recharge her batteries and grow her personal brand. Despite defeat, there is little chance of that changing.
UFC president Dana White had hinted that Rousey, if she beat Holm, would return at July's showpiece UFC 200 show in Las Vegas' brand new arena. Any budding opponents for her will be disappointed because the next fight will almost certainly be a rematch for the world championship.
Holm, for her part, is likely to be held back from defending her new gold until next summer at a time that suits Rousey's schedule. So, can lightning strike twice?
