It all begs the question: How does one go about beating the consensus best fighter in the world? According to trainer Greg Jackson, you “take their teddy bear away.” The noted MMA guru said the stunning upset resulted from a “perfectly executed game plan” by Holm.
“Every fighter has a safe zone, and that is our job as coaches to take that away,” Jackson said. “Ronda has certain places she feels comfortable in the cage, and Holly didn’t let her get to those spots.”
Holm’s first coach was Jackson’s partner Mike Winkeljohn. It was into his gym that a 16-year old Holm walked all those years ago, and he was beaming with pride after his longtime pupil snatched UFC gold.
“Holly is the best female athlete in the world right now,” Winkeljohn said. “She proved it tonight.”
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Full disclosure: Winkeljohn at the open workouts on Thursday told me how this fight was going to unfold, and I told him it was good that they were confident but that I did not concur. As you can imagine, he had a few laughs at my expense when I talked to him after the fight.
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MAIN CARD THOUGHTS: Women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk is terrifying to watch. The time she has spent in the cage thus far has been a thing of beauty. Her 25-minute masterpiece against Valerie Letourneau in the co-main event was a clinical performance that displayed the attributes that have made her the top 115-pound fighter in the world. Her jab, which many trainers have described as the best in MMA, was a sight to behold. She builds almost all of her offense off of it and keeps her opponents off-balance with its speed and accuracy. She also displayed the ability to take a good shot and showed poise as she persevered through a rocky first couple of minutes against an opponent many thought she would run over. Perhaps most importantly, Jedrzejczyk showed off a five-round gas tank. Make no mistake, this was a grueling fight for both women, and “Joanna Champion” really started to pull away in the later rounds as Letourneau’s reserves looked like they were dwindling. This cannot be an encouraging development for the rest of the strawweight division ... Mark Hunt went to Thailand to prepare for his rematch with Antonio Silva, and he showed up in the best shape of his UFC run. At 41 years of age, it seems a little late for a career renaissance, but in the heavyweight division, nothing is out of the realm of possibility when you can crack like Hunt. That power was on display once again, as he blasted Silva with a right hand and separated “Bigfoot” from his senses in the first round. Hunt told me Thursday that his goal was to get another title shot, and he has dedicated himself to attaining that objective. If he can keep himself in good shape, I would not write it off as lunacy, but still, it remains a very steep hill to climb ... Robert Whittaker came in as an underdog against the enigmatic Uriah Hall, and he gave the Australian fans reason to cheer by taking a hard-fought unanimous decision. It was “The Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes” winner’s fourth consecutive victory and his third since moving up to middleweight. The fight was a brutal back-and-forth affair, with both men landing and absorbing heavy shots. Whittaker kept the pressure on Hall and never let him get his devastating striking arsenal fully deployed. He will most likely crack the middleweight top 10 with this win and should get another well-deserved step up in competition as he attempts to continue his climb on the 185-pound ladder.
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UNDERCARD SHOTS: Young Jake Matthews found himself on the verge of a second straight defeat when he ate a massive head kick from Akbarh Arreola in the first round of their lightweight bout. The Australian Sage Northcutt rebounded late and finished the frame with heavy ground-and-pound from the top. He carried that momentum into the second round and absolutely punished Arreola with elbows from inside his guard. The 21-year-old Matthews has had quite a bit of hype surrounding him since he made his UFC debut as a teenager a couple years ago. Some of that luster dimmed after he was choked out by James Vick in May, but he may be able to reignite things off of this impressive victory ... James Moontasri scored a highlight-reel finish straight out of a video game, as he smashed Anton Zafir with a spinning back kick to the liver and a spinning backfist to the face -- a combination that left his opponent reeling on the canvas. Moontasri closed him out with a few coffin-nail punches before referee Steve Perceval came to the rescue.
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BROKEN RECORD: The announced attendance of 56,214 broke the previous Ultimate Fighting Championship record set at UFC 129 in Toronto by a little less than 500 people. It was a far cry from the 65,000-70,000 figure that was thrown around when UFC 193 was booked. The arena was full of large pockets of empty seats, but, as I wrote last week, it is hard to call an event that sold well over 40,000 tickets for an estimated $6.7 million gate a failure.