#5 Ronda Rousey vs. Alexis Davis – UFC 175: Weidman vs. Machida – 07/05/14
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This one was a squash for so many reasons. The champion, Rousey, was on a massive roll although she hadn’t reached the stardom she would in 2015, and she was beginning to gain a Mike Tyson-esque aura of destroying all of her opponents in quick fashion.
Only five months before this, she’d taken out top contender Sara McMann in the first round. The challenger, Davis, was on a nice win streak (five fights, three in the UFC) but realistically didn’t seem to have the skills to challenge Ronda and with the true top contender (Cat Zingano) on the shelf with a knee injury, she felt like a “challenger of the month” more than anything else.
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During the entrances and ring introductions, Davis looked in awe of Rousey; not quite intimidated by her, but like she wasn’t really sure if she could win. If she really did feel that way and I’m not looking too far into it, then she had good reason to.
The fight began and Rousey strode out into the centre of the cage and drew Davis into an exchange of punches. A stiff right hand had Davis hurt immediately and from there Rousey hit her with a knee to the gut and then delivered a beautiful judo throw, tossing the challenger onto her back right into scarf control position.
A series of clean right hands to the face followed and separated Davis from her consciousness, causing referee Yves Lavigne to step in at just sixteen seconds.
This was a violent finish that reminded me massively of another squash match in the UFC – namely Tito Ortiz’s title defence against Evan Tanner in 2001. Like Davis, Tanner had seemed overawed coming in and like Rousey, Tito took full advantage, slamming Tanner unconscious in the first round.
While Rousey’s reputation has since plummeted due to her own one-sided losses at the hands of Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, there’s a reason that she was widely recognised as one of the most fearsome fighters in all of MMA before the Holly Holm fight, and it’s because of fights like this one.
While her subsequent win over Cat Zingano was more impressive due to the calibre of opponent, and her earlier win over Miesha Tate was a more entertaining fight, this was definitely her most devastating win and one of the most memorable squash matches in UFC history.
Got any more squash matches you can remember from the UFC? There’s plenty, after all! Talk about them below!
Until next time....
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