A rematch is on the cards after Holly Holm's knockout of champion Ronda Rousey who has been taken to hospital after their UFC world bantamweight title fight in front of a record crowd in Melbourne.
Holm, a multiple boxing world champion, delivered on her promise to shock the world on Sunday, stopping Rousey with a head kick 59 seconds into the second round to send the star crashing to the canvas.
It appeared Rousey was close to unconscious as she hit the deck and Holm followed up with several strikes before the referee stopped the fight in front of 56,214 fans at Etihad Stadium.
The rematch might well be set for UFC 200 next year and Rousey would want to grant Holm a little more respect.
"I think a rematch makes sense for sure," Holm said.
"I've been on the losing side of a fight and wanted to avenge my loss - absolutely, she deserves a rematch. I think a rematch is an unspoken common sense to me."
The rematch idea was something UFC president Dana White would also like to see.
"We don't make fights the night of the fight but the rematch makes sense," White said.
"It changes a lot of things, the 'Cyborg' fight, some other stuff we were working on."
Rousey, who was taken to hospital due to a concussion and a split lip, didn't attend the post-fight media conference, with White doing her talking for her.
"She was transported because she got knocked out and her lip was split open," White said.
"She's completely bummed out and depressed, but that's it."
Holm, who had achieved eight of her previous MMA victories by knockout, but had gone the distance in her two UFC fights, said head kicks to Rousey were the plan.
"I visualised if the head kick was there, to go for it. If it was there, I wanted to take it and it was there," she said.
"I didn't want to kick her in the body and have her trap my leg."
The win propelled Holm's MMA record to 10-0 and dropped Rousey's to 12-1 as UFC commentator Joe Rogan called it the biggest upset in the sport.
Holm is one of two undefeated women's title holders in the UFC, after Joanna Jedrzejczyk took her record to 11-0 with a unanimous decision victory over Canada's Valerie Letourneau.
