Grappling definitely beats striking- IF the grappler takes the striker to the ground. Ronda failed to do that repeatedly to a far superior striker. I suspect that in a rematch, things will go the same way.

I do think you're right, though. A lot of the fire seems to have gone out of Ronda Rousey, at least judging by her public appearances. I don't really see that fight happening in November. She will have been out for a year; she won't have changed coaches or fighting style; and she won't have the ability to adapt on her feet against a fighter who is tactically far superior.

I don't know. Grappling usually beats striking. In the same way that Holm can use her basic Jujutsu skills to get through Rhonda's strengths so can Rowdy gain some better striking skills to beat Holm

I don't think she will though. I think she is going to do some movies get married, knocked up and be a housewife. She'll be happier for it too.

I've had my elbow hyperextended while doing ground-based sparring with a guy who had more aggression than control. I've also had my left index finger jammed hard against the second knuckle from checking a kick, which caused that knuckle to really swell up; I still can't bend that finger backwards fully, but otherwise it's healed. And I've got a bad tissue tear in my left hip flexor which bothers me all the time, from throwing kicks back at white belt.

I've also had the usual assortment of bruises, cuts, scrapes, and such from getting punched and kicked. I've got bruises all over my shins right now from taking bone-on-bone impact last night while sparring.

Serious injuries are not uncommon in real martial arts schools. There are quite a few guys at my school who have picked up serious damage from training and had to quit because of it. But, if people are careful and consistent with their training, really bad injuries can be avoided relatively easily.

Is it only professional athletes who get permanent damages or does this happen to normal people as well?

Yeah, she was simply picked apart and destroyed by someone with far greater technique, skill, and experience in striking than herself. And the holes in her stand-up game were exposed for the entire world to see, in spectacular high-definition.

Thing is, I don't think she can get the training and experience in under a year that it would take to stand up and strike against someone like Holly Holm. Just as Ms. Holm is not going to become an expert judoka in that same timeframe, Ms. Rousey simply will not be able to turn around her striking game to compete with a woman with 20+ years of experience in it.

The other thing to consider is that getting KTFO by a really talented counterpuncher fundamentally changes a fighter. In the rematch, Ronda will either do that stupid bull-rush again, in which case she'll get annihilated in similar fashion once more; or she will be more cautious and engage in stand-off tactics. But in the latter case, she will always be on the lookout for that big straight left.

In other words, the very things that have brought her success in the past will now be discarded, and that means that her base as a fighter goes away. What then will she fall back upon? She may put up a better fight next time she goes up against the Terminator there, but I still don't see her cracking the Holly Holm code anytime soon.

She can't afford to do that with Holly Holm who displays technical excellence and stamina and a lot more punching power than Rousey is used too. Holm is at getting out of a grapple as well which neutralizes one of her foes string areas.

Rousey can't ignore blows or count on a fast takedown and once she gets set up, whammo. A thing of beauty.

That said when Rowdy gets her act back together and puts some real effort into training especially for stamina , focus and precision, my guess is the rematch won't be as easy for Holm.