In a Weird Way, Rousey is the new Tyson

Not only did Ronda Rousey win fights, they weren't even close. She went out and crushed opponents, usually making them submit, if not just knocking them out in the opening minute. She had become an unbeatable force, exciting as hell to watch, but a tornado that ran through her matches in under a minute. Fight nights were a big deal when she was involved, and her opponents were basically irrelevant.

That was until she got knocked out on Saturday night by Holly Holm. In a strange way, the fight reminded me of the night Evander Holyfield first beat Mike Tyson. Holm was simply bigger than Rousey, and she used her reach advantage to not allow Rousey to ever get her offense going. She couldn't get her arm-bar on Holm, and she couldn't get her down to the mat and use her power advantage. It reminded me a lot of Holyfield using his reach to negate Tyson's power, and to frustrate the favorite into mistakes.

It also reminded me of the old Tyson fights because of the hype. Rousey was expected to not only win, but to destroy her opponents. Then, she lost, and the world was shocked. This fight is probably the biggest upset since Buster Douglas took down Tyson in my childhood. Sure, a boring fighter like Floyd Mayweather can win a boxing match every time, because he does nothing. Someone like Rousey in UFC was always open to getting beat by a bigger, better fighter. In a weird way, Rousey just became Mike Tyson, without the trouble.