Fight history
Holm vs. Rousey: How Holly Holm Beat Ronda Rousey at UFC 193
Rousey had finished her last three opponents in 64 seconds combined. Holm out-landed her 38 to 17, took the first round and ended it with a head kick.
Rousey
HolmAt a glance
- ResultHolm by KO/TKO (head kick and punches) at 0:59 of round 2; referee Herb Dean
- The stakesRousey's seventh UFC title defence; she was 12-0 and had finished her last three opponents in 34, 14 and 16 seconds
- The statsSignificant strikes 38 of 53 to 17 of 65; Holm landed 72%, Rousey 26%
- Round 1No judges' scores were published; we have it 10-9 Holm
- The crowd56,214, a UFC attendance record
- AfterwardsHolm lost the title in her first defence; Rousey fought once more in the UFC and lost in 48 seconds
What was at stake
In November 2015 Ronda Rousey was the most dominant champion in the UFC. She was 12-0, she had held the women's bantamweight title since the UFC named her its first women's champion in December 2012, and UFC 193 was to be her seventh straight title defence, which UFC.com, ESPN and Sports Illustrated all note. Her last three fights had lasted 34 seconds against Bethe Correia, 14 seconds against Cat Zingano and 16 seconds against Alexis Davis, according to the official records, NBC and Sherdog.
Holly Holm was 9-0 in MMA and 2-0 in the UFC, with a split decision over Raquel Pennington and a unanimous decision over Marion Reneau. Before MMA she had been a world champion boxer in more than one weight class, as Sports Illustrated, UFC.com and the Associated Press all report; the sources disagree on exactly how many titles she held, so we do not give a number. The betting markets made her a heavy underdog.
The build-up ended at the weigh-in, where both women made 134 pounds. Rousey walked into Holm's face, Holm appeared to put her right fist against Rousey's jaw and push, and Dana White stepped between them, as CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated both describe. The fight drew 56,214 people, a UFC attendance record according to ESPN and the Associated Press.
Watch the finish
This is the finish, not the full fight: the UFC's own clip of the head kick, from its official YouTube channel. Tap to play it here.
The official result
| Winner | Method | Round | Time | Referee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Holly Holm | KO/TKO (kick to the head, then punches) | 2 of 5 | 0:59 | Herb Dean |
The fight was scheduled for five five-minute rounds. Because it ended inside the distance, no judges' scorecards were published. Outlets label the method KO or TKO; the official statistics record it as KO/TKO from a kick to the head at distance.
UFC.com and Sherdog both report that Dean stopped the fight 59 seconds into the second round. It was the first loss of Rousey's career.
Round by round
Round 1 - Holm (our card)
Holm moved, circled away from Rousey and kept landing her straight left. ESPN, Sherdog and UFC.com all single out that punch. In the second minute Rousey got her against the fence, but Holm worked free, which UFC.com and MMARising both describe. Midway through the round Rousey got Holm to the floor and went for her armbar; Holm cleared the arm and stood back up, according to ESPN and MMARising. The official statistics do not count it as a takedown: they credit Rousey with none from one attempt.
Holm landed an elbow as Rousey came forward, which Sherdog and MMARising both report, and in the final minute she took Rousey down herself, which UFC.com, Sherdog and MMARising all describe and the official statistics confirm. Rousey went back to her corner bleeding from the mouth: UFC.com, Sherdog and MMARising all note it. The round's numbers were one-sided: Holm landed 27 of 40 significant strikes, Rousey 15 of 50.
Round 2 - Holm by KO/TKO at 0:59
Another straight left hurt Rousey early in the round, according to UFC.com, Sherdog and ESPN. She threw a wild punch and nearly lost her balance, which ESPN and MMARising both describe. Holm then landed a left kick: to the head according to UFC.com and ESPN, to the neck according to Sherdog and NBC. Accounts of the moment before it differ too: ESPN has Rousey ducking in for a clinch, Sherdog and MMARising have her turning away. Rousey fell, Holm followed with punches and hammerfists, and Dean stopped it. In 59 seconds Holm landed 11 of 13 significant strikes; Rousey landed 2 of 15.
What the numbers say
The official statistics, round by round (Holm first):
| Round | Knockdowns | Sig. strikes | Head | Body | Legs | Takedowns | Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 0 – 0 | 27/40 – 15/50 | 19 – 11 | 3 – 4 | 5 – 0 | 1/1 – 0/1 | 0:12 – 0:04 |
| R2 | 1 – 0 | 11/13 – 2/15 | 10 – 2 | 1 – 0 | 0 – 0 | 0/0 – 0/0 | 0:03 – 0:00 |
| Total | 1 – 0 | 38/53 – 17/65 | 29 – 13 | 4 – 4 | 5 – 0 | 1/1 – 0/1 | 0:15 – 0:04 |
Holm landed 72% of her significant strikes; Rousey landed 26%. To the head, where the fight was decided, it was 29 to 13. Rousey threw more, 65 significant strikes to 53, but most of them missed: of her 59 strikes aimed at the head, 13 landed. Holm also won the grappling exchanges that counted on paper, one takedown from one attempt against none from one for Rousey, and Rousey made no submission attempt that the official statistics recognise.
The figures cannot show the footwork, which is what every account of the fight comes back to: Holm kept moving, made Rousey chase and punished each entry with the left hand. They do show that by the time the kick landed, Holm had already been winning the fight for six minutes.
How we scored it
| Round | MMA.SOCIAL | Why |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | 10-9 Holm | 27-15 in significant strikes, the cleaner shots, the round's only takedown, and Rousey's armbar attempt came to nothing. |
| R2 | Holm by KO/TKO | Hurt by the left, finished by the kick and punches at 0:59. |
No judges' scores for the first round were ever published. Of the media, MMARising had it 10-9 for Holm. So do we: Rousey's armbar attempt was the most dangerous moment of the round for Holm, but she escaped it, and everything else in the five minutes went her way. It was not a 10-8 round - Rousey was bloodied but never down - but it was a clear one.
What happened next
"I have to say, everything we worked on presented itself in the fight," Holm said afterwards, as ESPN reported, and to the Associated Press: "There's been a lot of blood, sweat and tears but it was all worth it." Dana White told ESPN: "A rematch makes a lot of sense." Rousey later posted on Instagram, as Sports Illustrated reported: "I just wanted to thank everyone for the love and support, I appreciate the concerns about my health, but I'm fine. As I had mentioned before, I'm going to take a little bit of time, but I'll be back."
The rematch never came. Holm's first defence was against Miesha Tate at UFC 196 on March 5, 2016, and Tate won the title with a rear-naked choke at 3:30 of the fifth round. Holm later lost title fights to Germaine de Randamie, Cris Cyborg and Amanda Nunes, and her last UFC fight was a submission loss to Kayla Harrison at UFC 300 in April 2024. She returned to boxing in 2025.
Rousey came back once in the UFC, at UFC 207 on December 30, 2016, and Nunes stopped her with punches in 48 seconds. She moved to professional wrestling, signing full-time with WWE and debuting at the Royal Rumble in January 2018, as CBS Sports reported, and became the first woman in the UFC Hall of Fame later that year. In May 2026 she fought once more, outside the UFC, and beat Gina Carano by armbar in 17 seconds, which Al Jazeera and Sky Sports both report; she called it a one-off.
The verdict
Holm vs. Rousey is remembered for the head kick, but the official numbers show a fight Holm was winning before it landed. She out-landed Rousey 38 to 17 at almost three times the accuracy, won the first round on our card, escaped the one armbar attempt Rousey managed and hurt her with the same straight left that had worked all fight before the kick ended it. The size of the upset was real; the result was not luck. Holm found a way to make the most dominant champion in the sport fight her fight, and for six minutes Rousey had no answer to it.
Full fight stats: Rousey vs. Holm. The rest of the night: UFC 193. More: the most knockouts in UFC history, the most days as champion and the most title fights.
Sources
- UFCStats round-by-round statistics (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- UFC - UFC 193 final results
- UFC - Holly Holm steals the show at UFC 193
- UFC - The numbers behind the women's bantamweight division
- ESPN - Holly Holm KOs Ronda Rousey to win women's bantamweight title
- Sherdog - Holly Holm deposes Ronda Rousey in UFC 193 stunner
- Sherdog - By the Numbers: UFC 193
- Sherdog - Beating the Odds: UFC 193
- MMARising - UFC 193 live play-by-play
- Associated Press via Philstar - Holly Holm stuns Ronda Rousey
- Sports Illustrated - UFC 193 crash course: Rousey vs. Holm
- Sports Illustrated - Rousey and Holm at the UFC 193 weigh-in
- CBS Sports - Rousey and Holm push and shove at the UFC 193 weigh-in
- Sports Illustrated - Rousey's statement after UFC 193
- ESPN - Miesha Tate stuns Holly Holm
- ESPN - Amanda Nunes stops Ronda Rousey in 48 seconds at UFC 207
- CBS Sports - Rousey appears at the Royal Rumble after signing with WWE
- Al Jazeera - Rousey beats Carano with a 17-second submission
- Just Women's Sports - Rousey responds to Holm rematch talk
- UFC - Holly Holm athlete page
Questions
Who won Holm vs. Rousey?
Holly Holm, by knockout at UFC 193 on November 15, 2015. She landed a left kick to the head and followed up with punches, and referee Herb Dean stopped the fight 59 seconds into the second round. Holm won the women's bantamweight title.
How did Holly Holm beat Ronda Rousey?
By keeping the fight standing and at distance. Holm circled away from Rousey, landed her straight left again and again, escaped Rousey's armbar attempt and out-landed her 38 to 17 in significant strikes before finishing her with a head kick and punches in round 2.
Was Holm vs. Rousey a big upset?
Yes. Rousey was 12-0 and making her seventh straight UFC title defence, and she had finished her previous three opponents in 64 seconds combined. Holm went into the fight as a heavy underdog.
What were the stats for Holm vs. Rousey?
According to the official statistics, Holm landed 38 of 53 significant strikes (72%) and Rousey 17 of 65 (26%). Holm landed the fight's only takedown and its only knockdown. No judges' scores were published because the fight ended inside the distance.
Did Holm and Rousey ever have a rematch?
No. Holm lost the title to Miesha Tate in her first defence, and Rousey lost to Amanda Nunes in 48 seconds at UFC 207 in her only UFC fight after UFC 193. The rematch was never booked.
