How Many Women Have Headlined a Combat Sports Stadium Show as Katie Taylor Makes History?

Croke Park in Dublin, Ireland, has long been considered the holy grail for Irish combat sports stars. When Conor McGregor was in his pomp, he regularly flirted with the idea of fighting in the Emerald Isle's most famous stadium, only to repeatedly have his hopes dashed. We'll never know precisely what scuppered his dreams, but we do know that the Notorious One and Croke Park was a marriage that never quite materialized.

Katie Taylor Headlines Croke Park at Long Last

But where Conor McGregor failed, veteran women's boxing star Katie Taylor has succeeded. Arguably, the greatest pound-for-pound female boxer of all time has long clamored for a clash at Croke Park, and in her 27th and final fight, she will finally get her wish. The all-time great KT will defend her undisputed super-lightweight championship against unbeaten mandatory challenger Flora Pili in Ireland's most historic stadium on September 5th. And despite her turning 40 years of age two months before the fight, online betting sites still make Taylor the favorite to get the win in her farewell bout.  

The latest odds from 5gringos online sportsbook price Taylor as a mightily short 1/20 to pick up the victory at Croke Park, with the challenger a whopping 9/1 outsider. Should Pili manage to pull off the upset win somehow, it would be considered one of the greatest upsets of all time.

Taylor's upcoming effort will mark the first time in boxing history that a stadium show has been headlined by a female fight. Taylor and long-time rival Amanda Serrano did co-main event in AT&T Stadium in November 2024, with the exhibition between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson headlining. That's the closest women have come to headlining a stadium show until now. But in the UFC and even WWE, there is a little more to choose from.

So, which women have successfully main-evented a card to take place in a stadium? Here are two such occasions.

Holly Holm Stuns Ronda Rousey

Back in 2015, Ronda Rousey was the biggest star on the planet. Not just women's star. Not just UFC star. Global star, and the biggest of them all.

She was the reigning UFC women's bantamweight champion, and each of her last three title defenses came in a cumulative Octagon time of just 64 seconds. Her 34-second knockout of Bethe Correia in Rio de Janeiro was the pick of the bunch, catapulting her to superstardom and landing her roles in blockbuster Hollywood movies, such as the Fast and the Furious franchise.

She headed to the Land Down Under in November 2015 to headline at the stunning Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, marking just the second time in five years that the UFC had put on a show in a stadium as opposed to an indoor arena, and the first time women had headlined.

To the casual fan, challenger Holly Holm wasn't supposed to be much of a threat. She was ranked at number nine in the division and was a huge underdog. However, the keener eye will have known that the Preacher's Daughter was a former boxing world champion, and her superior height and reach could pose massive problems for Rowdy should she not be able to close the distance.

On fight night, she couldn't. Throughout the first round, Holm peppered away with strikes on the outside, leaving Rousey to become visibly frustrated.

In the second, that frustration turned into recklessness, and then Holm delivered one of the most shocking combat sports moments of all time when she nailed the champion with a left high kick to the head. Rousey dropped to the mat, Holm followed it up with two hammer fists, and there was a  new women's bantamweight champion of the world.

Rousey Takes Women to the Main Event of WWE WrestleMania

The above UFC event is the only time in combat sports history that women have headlined in a stadium. In the sports entertainment world of WWE, however, Ronda Rousey also took female stars into the spotlight. 13 months on from that defeat to Holly Holm, Rowdy took on new bantamweight queen Amanda Nunes and was promptly knocked out inside a minute, ending her UFC career once and for all. 18 months after that, Rousey — a long-time professional wrestling fan — officially signed with WWE.

She made her debut at WrestleMania 34 in a tag team match alongside Kurt Angle against Triple H and Stephanie McMahon. But it was one year later that Rousey truly catapulted female stars into the spotlight.

After a blood feud with Becky Lynch, who had herself become one of the biggest stars in the company, women headlined a WrestleMania for the first time ever, and they did so in front of huge numbers at MetLife Stadium, home of the NFL's Jets and Giants, as well as the site of the upcoming 2026 World Cup final.

Rousey would face off with the aforementioned Lynch, as well as Charlotte Flair, in a triple threat match for the undisputed women's championship. She would ultimately go on to lose, however, with Lynch emerging victorious by pinning the former UFC star. The matchup remains the only time that women have ever headlined WWE WrestleMania.