Ronda Rousey Reacts To Holly Holm Loss For First Time On Saturday Night Live

Despite her devastating loss to Holly Holm in her latest bout at November’s UFC 193, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey continued to blaze trails for mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters by becoming the first woman fighter to host Saturday Night Live tonight (Jan. 23, 2016) in the midst of a brutal blizzard in New York City.

It was Rousey’s first major public appearance since her second round knockout loss to Holm, and the WMMA megastar wasted no time in addressing the massive elephant in the room early in her opening monologue.

And what she said may not have been what you thought she might say. Head to the next page to find out what ‘Rowdy’ opened the classic comedy show with….

Rousey used the bright lights to congratulate Holm, exhibiting some class that she wasn’t attributed in a recent message on the Internet:

“I’m so excited to be here because it’s the first time I’ll be on live television without getting punched in the face. It’s also the first time that I’m talking to my fans since my loss to Holly Holm in November, which, by the way, was a fight that Holly sincerely deserved to win, and I just wanted to take a minute to sincerely congratulate her.”

Obviously still the biggest multimedia star in MMA, Rousey was originally scheduled to rematch Holm at July 9’s UFC 200, but those plans were changed when Rousey need more time off to film a movie and heal. Yet even though she’ll unfortunately be unable to grace the summer blockbuster, she still assured fans that she didn’t suffer any major injuries in a joking way:

“And all of those who were worried I’m not ready to host the show because I like, have brain damage, relax. I’m good. Besides, everything is on the cue cards. But, in all seriousness, I’m fine, and tonight, I’m ready to crush it.”

From there, Rousey’s monologue evolved into a round-by-round affair complete with commentators, ‘Rowdy’ slapping a female Justin Bieber impersonator, and finally a musical number featuring Ronda, the cast, and musical guest Selena Gomez.

And so Rousey’s live comedy debut was complete, and she deserves credit for once again being a groundbreaking athlete for fighters. However, it remains to be seen if she comes back to the cage with the competitive fire that made her the most dominant athlete in the UFC.