Ronda Rousey had confidently asserted that her seventh defense of the UFC bantamweight championship would not unfold as her opponent, Holly Holm, intended. Yet, just weeks later, she experienced one of the most shocking upsets in UFC history, proving her own foresight tragically accurate.
Recently, Rousey has been advised against returning to the Octagon, given how much the sport has advanced since her departure. As the UFC’s inaugural female champion, Rousey was a monumental figure who shattered barriers, maintaining a skill level far superior to her competition throughout her dominant title reign.
Her devastating knockout loss to Holm in the main event of UFC 193 marked the conclusion of one of the sport`s most legendary runs. This defeat signaled a profound change of power, especially since “Rowdy” was fully aware of Holm’s planned strategy yet failed to counter it.
Ronda Rousey Foresaw Holly Holm’s Game Plan at UFC 193
Long before the rise of current bantamweight champions like Kayla Harrison (who also uses a judo background to aim for “GOAT” status), Rousey had similarly dominated opponents, using her vastly superior grappling skills on the ground.
The only defeat of her career occurred because her inability to implement her elite grappling exposed critical vulnerabilities in her overall striking defense.
Although many criticized her approach to fighting Holm—suggesting the challenger easily maintained distance and landed strikes—Dana White defended Rousey’s game plan. Rousey herself later admitted her initial strategy collapsed early, but crucially, she had accurately anticipated Holm’s winning method.
During an appearance on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ just over a month before the defense, the champion eerily predicted the exact sequence of events that led to her downfall:
“This one’s going to be a much longer fight… She’s the type of fighter that you have to be very patient with. I feel like she’s going to try and keep distance and keep far away from me and get me frustrated to a point where I’ll make a mistake and she can try and kick me in the head, but it’s not going to go like that. Not the way that she wants.”
Why Rousey Entered UFC 193 Without a Shred of Doubt
In the lead-up to UFC 193, despite speaking highly of Holm and acknowledging that her style presented the toughest challenge yet, Rousey had little reason to fear failure. She had faced almost no adversity in the Octagon; her previous four title defenses had all ended dramatically in the first round, with only one extending past the one-minute mark.
Her intense confidence—and occasional perceived cruelty—was evident in a 2015 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, referring to prior opponents:
“If I make the fight fast, that means I like you. That’s me at my most merciful. She got to go home with a payment to go buy a house. She had a great night if you think about it. But, with this next chick, who I don’t like, it’s not going to be like that. She’s going to walk out looking different than she did walking in.”
Unfortunately for Rousey, the “next chick” (Holly Holm) was the one who walked out looking different, having perfectly executed the strategy Rousey herself had warned about.
