UFC 193 was this past weekend, and it was a historic event. Let’s get right to the rundown.
UFC 193
UGLY: Stefan Struve vs. Jared Rosholt
This was a terrible fight, so utterly lacking in action that it makes you question if you still want to be a fight fan. Just bad all around. Rosholt won the decision, but everyone involved in this fight lost.
BAD: Robert Whittaker vs. Uriah Hall
Another dreadfully boring fight here. Whittaker won the decision, but it’s not like he really did all that much. That’s a little harsh, but these dull fights really wear on me.
BAD/GOOD: Mark Hunt stops Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva
This fight started extremely tentatively, and there was very, very little going on. Then Hunt had enough and came forward at Bigfoot and knocked him out with a powerful right hand. This was a real good win for Hunt, but Bigfoot should probably just retire. He’s not likely to beat anyone at this point. Getting forced off the Testosterone Replacement Therapy has diminished him to the point where he’s a shell of what he used to be. The fight itself is the BAD but the finish gets a GOOD.
GOOD: Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs. Valerie Letourneau
I expected some bigtime fireworks in this fight, but they only came in spurts here. There’s no question that Jedrzejczyk controlled and dominated things. Letourneau showed a lot of toughness as she took a real beating here. It would be unfair of me to expect an explosive finish, but it would have been nice. Jedrzejczyk fought a smart fight, she fought a good fight. She showed some really strong striking in another great performance, as she successfully defended her UFC Women’s Strawweight Championship again.
GREAT: Holly Holm stops Ronda Rousey
As everyone knows by now, Holm shocked the world and did the impossible. She beat someone who looked as unstoppable as anyone has ever looked in sports history. And she did it her way. It would be easy to question why Rousey didn’t take Holm down, but Holm had a fantastic gameplan. She exposed the striking of Rousey. She demonstrated once again that there’s a big difference between good MMA striking and good boxing. I thought that Rousey would have more success on her feet, but she looked bad. I was surprised at how bad she looked on her feet. She was stumbling around and it was clear that her emotions were getting the better of her. Holm successfully frustrated her and made her chase and take risks. It was great to see. I’m a big Rousey fan, but this was history here. To see her get beaten like this, I can’t help but get excited at the prospect of what Rousey will do and how she’ll respond to this loss. I would imagine that she’ll come roaring back and be better than ever, but you never truly know.
Back to Holm, this was amazing that she was able to control this fight so much. She dictated everything about this fight. She even took the fight to the ground at one point but then got up as if to say “I can, I just don’t want to.” It was a magnificent performance and one that will go down in history as one of the biggest upsets in MMA history. Holm put on a master class that should be studied and examined. Just fantastic stuff.
This win, coupled with the massive crowd in Australia, will make this an event to remember. The largest crowd in UFC history saw possibly the biggest upset in UFC history. This was an amazing event.
Comments and suggestions can be emailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com and you can follow me on Twitter at @hydenfrank
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