5 of the most brutal knockouts in the history of the UFC women's divisions

#2 Holly Holm vs. Ronda Rousey

Holly Holm's head kick KO of Ronda Rousey is one of the most memorable in UFC history

If Ronda Rousey’s win over Bethe Correia three months prior to this fight made her – and her legions of fans - believe she had tremendous striking and knockout power, then this loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193 quickly suggested otherwise. Former boxing champion Holm came into her title fight with Rousey as a huge underdog, and rightfully so – she’d scraped past fringe contenders Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau to earn her title shot, hardly impressive wins, while Rousey looked unstoppable.

In front of a UFC record crowd in Melbourne, Australia, though, Holm quickly proved the idea that Rousey was unbeatable firmly wrong. Rather than attempt to implement her grappling right away, Rousey came out looking to strike as she’d done against Correia, but it was quickly made clear that she wasn’t fighting a brawler this time.

The fight looked more like a bull – Rousey – chasing after a matador in Holm and failing miserably to land any offense, while ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ was able to use her pinpoint counter-strikes to catch the champion over and over. By the time the first round was over, it was clear that Rousey was probably in over her head.

She never saw the end of the second round. Holm dropped her with a left hand in the early going and as a stunned Rousey rose to her feet, Holm landed a huge left head kick that switched her lights off immediately, sending her crashing down to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Holm had shocked the world with one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history, and even four years on her head kick KO of the legendary champion remains one of the most replayed finishes of all time.