While many were incensed by the fact Holly Holm continued to punch Ronda Rousey in the face after she was clearly rendered unconscious by a head kick (which is legal in the sport), Australian neurologist Professor Chris Levi has likened the blow to the incident that killed cricketer Phillip Hughes in November, 2014.
In an interview with News Corp, Professor Levi detailed how the kick delivered to the side of Rousey’s head and neck area could have been fatal, and was remarkably similar to the position, and force with which Hughes was hit with a cricket ball while playing for South Australia at the SCG.
Levi said that Rousey was at serious risk of suffering neck trauma, a stroke, or even dying due to the force and location of the blow.
Similarly, Hughes was struck in the neck at the vertebral artery, which was subsequently ruptured, causing haemorrhaging and sending him into a coma from which he never regained consciousness.
“At the top of the neck, there is a relatively exposed vertebral artery that supplies blood to the brain,” Professor Levi said.
“We’ve known for many years that sudden rotational force can actually tear the artery.
“If that vessel tears and there is bleeding within the wall of the vessel, that bleeding can narrow the vessel, block it, and cause a stroke.”
Calls to have mixed martial arts banned altogether have been rife since Rousey’s beat-down at UFC 193, with many of Australia’s most senior sports columnists taking exception to the blood sport.