It turns out that Ronda Rousey's last fight was, indeed, in line with her previous three UFC women's welterweight title defenses: It was over in 30 seconds.
One of the biggest revelations from Rousey's in-depth interview with ESPN the Magazine, posted Tuesday on ESPN.com, was that she said one of the first punches eventual new champion Holly Holm threw disoriented the former champ so much that she never recovered, leading to her second-round knockout.
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"I got hit in that first round. ... I cut my lip open and knocked a couple of my teeth loose. I was out on my feet from the very beginning," Rousey said. "I wasn't thinking clearly. I had that huge cut in my mouth and I just spit [the blood] out at my feet. Then they brought the bucket over and I'm like, 'Why didn't I spit it in the bucket?' I never spit on the ground."
ESPN's Ramona Shelburne reported that the blow occurred in the first 30 seconds of the fight. A review of the fight shows that Holm connected with a straight left hand 28 seconds into the match that reddened Rousey's nose.
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But another shot, 50 seconds in, made Rousey react and may have been the culprit.
"It was like a dumbed-down dreamy version of yourself making decisions. ... I was just trying to shake myself out of it," Rousey said. "I kept saying to myself, 'You're OK, keep fighting. You're OK, keep fighting.' I just feel so embarrassed. How I fought after that is such an embarrassing representation of myself. I wasn't even f---ing there."
Shelburne suggested that Rousey felt pressure to defeat Holm in the same manner in which she disposed of Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano and Bethe Correia -- Rousey's previous three opponents -- in a combined 64 seconds. Rousey, however, didn't seem to do anything dramatic in the first 30 seconds -- other than taste Holm's left fist repeatedly -- to suggest that she wanted to end the fight that quickly.
Rousey said she needs a rematch to find out whether she will "win and keep going or I won't and I'll be done with everything."
Ironically, "Rowdy" Ronda may be the one in the rematch thinking, "If I can just survive the first 30 seconds. ..."
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