“She Was Not Going to Be a Champion Forever” – Chael Sonnen Defies Narrative on Ronda Rousey’s $4.5 Million ‘Mistake’ in Fighting Holly Holm

“We should have waited,” said Ronda Rousey’s coach Edmond Tarverdyan with dejection while speaking to MMA News. But why? What was he talking about? Well, it was about the infamous fight between Rousey and Holly Holm that had a $4.5 million payday for Rousey to fight Holm in 2015. Speaking to Dark Side of the Cage, ‘Rowdy’s’ coach lamented the fact that they took the fight on short notice because of such a huge financial incentive on the table. A choice that ultimately led to one of the most shocking upsets in UFC history. 

The fight had ended in a devastating manner for Rousey when Holm attacked with a brutal head-kick knockout in Round 2. ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey, who had dominated the women’s bantamweight division up until that point, was completely shattered and the coach said that she was not ready—maybe that hasty decision to take the fight for a hefty pay day was her downfall.

But a certain UFC veteran thinks that the main disadvantage was not for Rousey but for ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’. Why? Well, according to ex-UFC star Chael Sonnen, Rousey knew what she was doing. Even though ‘The American Gangster’ admitted that her career journey was ‘awesome’ and that he would even make a movie on it if someone asked, he did not agree with Rousey’s reason to fight Holm. Rousey was paid $4.5 million to fight Holm, but the mistake was that Rousey was not ready to fight on such short notice.

He said, “ I don’t think you’re serving Ronda. Ronda’s got all of her own accolades and like everything its; all things are gonna come to an end. She was not going to be champion forever. ” Sonnen continued, It was a last-minute fight in her placement that Ronda had in her contract. Or the money that she had agreed in her contract for the amount of rounds she had agreed in her life. You can say she didn’t have that information, but would you be accurate? I don’t believe so.”

He further supported Holm and said, “I do believe the disadvantage as I hear about this. I’m going to have to put myself in one of their spots and I believe the disadvantage was to Holly.”

Ten years after the iconic UFC 193 clash, Dana White recalled how Rousey was not ready for the fight. “Ronda Rousey, when she flew over here to Australia and lost to Holly Holm, she came straight from filming a movie. Got here three days before the fight, had a hard time making weight because of it, and the time difference — and you saw how that fight ended for Ronda,”  he reflected in an interview with Mark Bouris.

This was the first loss of Ronda Rousey‘s professional MMA career. It was so unbelievable because even Joe Rogan was left dumbfounded, a moment immortalized in MMA memedom. Most people, including White thought it was a mistake on her part to accept the UFC 193 bout on short notice, but not  Chael Sonnen. But let’s see what Holly Holm had to say about this.

Holly Holm dismissed Rousey’s concussion claim

Rousey had previously admitted that she entered the fight while being concussed. But her opponent does not buy that at all. When Holm was asked to react to Rousey’s comments, the former champion simply said she outperformed her on the night.

“I say this all out of respect,” Holm told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 300 media day. “To have a big upset like that fight was, you have to have a dominant champion. So, without her being so dominant, then I couldn’t have been able to have such an upset. With that being said, I was the better fighter. I was the better fighter that night, and every fighter at this point, if you’ve made a career of fighting, you’ve had a concussion at some point.”

She said that most fighters suffer concussions after a point in their careers. But then Rousey’s comments of being concussed couldn’t have been true in this regard since she was barely scratched in her career prior to her fight with Holm. So what was it then? Was it a short-notice fight as a result of a big payday, or was it a concussion? Let us know in the comments down below.