Author: Joseph Zucker

Holly Holm May Fight Another Opponent Before Ronda Rousey Rematch

Ronda Rousey has left no doubt she intends to get a rematch with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm; the only question is when the two will oppose one another again in the Octagon.
“I need to come back. I need to beat this chick,” said Rousey…

Ronda Rousey has left no doubt she intends to get a rematch with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm; the only question is when the two will oppose one another again in the Octagon.

“I need to come back. I need to beat this chick,” said Rousey in an interview with Ramona Shelburne for ESPN The Magazine. (Note: Link contains NSFW language.) “Who knows if I’m going to pop my teeth out or break my jaw or rip my lip open. I have to f—–g do it.”

Holm’s manager, Lenny Fresquez, cast some doubt that Holm would immediately take on Rousey in her first title defense, telling the Los Angeles Times‘ Lance Pugmire that UFC threw out the prospect of a fight on July 9 at UFC 200 in Las Vegas.    

“I’m not sure Ronda will be ready for a July fight,” Fresquez said. “She took a severe beating, and I don’t think it’s in her best interest to take the next fight so fast. They told me she’s been ready and cleared, but …”

Instead, Fresquez identified Miesha Tate as a more likely option for his client.

“We’d like to fight Miesha,” he said. “We understand there are risks, but Holly’s a dominant champion, and she wants to fight the best. Right now, Miesha is the best.”

Following Rousey’s defeat to Holm, UFC suspended her for up to 180 days for medical reasons. The 28-year-old was immediately hospitalized after the fight, and she needed plastic surgery to repair a cut in her lip.

“It might be three to six months before I can eat an apple, let alone take an impact,” Rousey told Shelburne.

A rematch between Holm and Rousey would unquestionably be a profitable fight and potentially one of the highest-grossing bouts in UFC history. Still, Rousey can’t afford to rush her return to the Octagon.

Meanwhile, Holm has every right to look in a different direction should Rousey not be physically ready to fight in the summer. Tate is the No. 2-ranked fighter in UFC’s women’s bantamweight division, so she’d be the best challenger for Holm if Rousey is unavailable.

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Ronda Rousey Comments on Health After Knockout Loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193

Ronda Rousey’s UFC career isn’t over following her shocking defeat to Holly Holm at UFC 193, but the former women’s bantamweight champion admitted she plans on taking a break from the Octagon.
“I just wanted to thank everyone for the love and support,”…

Ronda Rousey‘s UFC career isn’t over following her shocking defeat to Holly Holm at UFC 193, but the former women’s bantamweight champion admitted she plans on taking a break from the Octagon.

“I just wanted to thank everyone for the love and support,” Rousey wrote in an Instagram post Sunday night. “I appreciate the concerns about my health, but I’m fine. As I had mentioned before, I’m going to take a little bit of time, but I’ll be back.”

Holm delivered one of the biggest sporting upsets in recent memory after she thoroughly outclassed Rousey en route to a second-round knockout:

“[Rousey] was transported [to the hospital] because she got knocked out,” said UFC President Dana White after the fight, per Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie. “Then her lip was split in half, so they had to sew her lip.”

The talk of a possible rematch between Holm and Rousey happened almost instantaneously as Holm was declared the new champion. MMAFighting.com’s Luke Thomas isn’t so sure that would be a good idea for Rousey:   

Holm vs. Rousey would be the biggest return fight in women’s MMA. Too much money would be on the line to think it will never happen at some point.

Still, given both Rousey’s injuries and her desire for some time away from the UFC, it may be a little while until she gets another crack at Holm.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Ronda Rousey Comments on Health After Knockout Loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193

Ronda Rousey’s UFC career isn’t over following her shocking defeat to Holly Holm at UFC 193, but the former women’s bantamweight champion admitted she plans on taking a break from the Octagon.
“I just wanted to thank everyone for the love and support,”…

Ronda Rousey‘s UFC career isn’t over following her shocking defeat to Holly Holm at UFC 193, but the former women’s bantamweight champion admitted she plans on taking a break from the Octagon.

“I just wanted to thank everyone for the love and support,” Rousey wrote in an Instagram post Sunday night. “I appreciate the concerns about my health, but I’m fine. As I had mentioned before, I’m going to take a little bit of time, but I’ll be back.”

Holm delivered one of the biggest sporting upsets in recent memory after she thoroughly outclassed Rousey en route to a second-round knockout:

“[Rousey] was transported [to the hospital] because she got knocked out,” said UFC President Dana White after the fight, per Steven Marrocco of MMAjunkie. “Then her lip was split in half, so they had to sew her lip.”

The talk of a possible rematch between Holm and Rousey happened almost instantaneously as Holm was declared the new champion. MMAFighting.com’s Luke Thomas isn’t so sure that would be a good idea for Rousey:   

Holm vs. Rousey would be the biggest return fight in women’s MMA. Too much money would be on the line to think it will never happen at some point.

Still, given both Rousey’s injuries and her desire for some time away from the UFC, it may be a little while until she gets another crack at Holm.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Rousey vs. Holm: Career Stats, Highlights for Both Fighters Ahead of UFC 193

Holly Holm prevailed in her first two UFC fights, but she faces the biggest test of her career Saturday, Nov. 14: Ronda Rousey. The two will clash at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia.
Like the 12 women before her, Holm enters this fight at a decided dis…

Holly Holm prevailed in her first two UFC fights, but she faces the biggest test of her career Saturday, Nov. 14: Ronda Rousey. The two will clash at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia.

Like the 12 women before her, Holm enters this fight at a decided disadvantage. Rousey is the most dominant athlete in any sport, especially after Floyd Mayweather’s retirement from boxing. Mayweather was the only other star who could challenge Rousey’s mastery over her domain.

The UFC women’s bantamweight champion has won 12 of her professional fights, and only one of those bouts lasted beyond the first round. In addition, nine of her victories have come in one minute or less.

As much as she has done as a boxer and mixed martial arts fighter, Holm’s resume simply doesn’t stack up. She’s 2-0 in UFC and 9-0 in MMA, with her last two victories coming against Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau.

Here’s the tale of the tape between the two fighters:

According to Odds Shark, Holm opened as a 33-4 underdog, and the long odds are to be expected considering Holm doesn’t exactly have a strong body of work through which she has proved herself.

While she went 33-2-3 as a professional boxer, boxing and MMA are two completely different disciplines. Holm can strike with the best of them, but the whole of her skill set is still somewhat lacking, to the extent many questioned whether she has proved herself worthy of a title challenge.

As Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole wrote:

There is a school of thought, though, that after UFC officials saw Holm’s first two bouts, they were concerned she’d lose before she would get to Rousey. In order to preserve the matchup between the two unbeaten fighters, they gave her the fight sooner than they otherwise might have, the thinking goes.

Holm has had more time to smooth out some of her rougher edges in the Octagon, but she’s not all of a sudden going to be a significantly different fighter after a few months of training.

The 34-year-old would be wise not to repeat the same game plan she utilized against Reneau back in July. Holm was the more aggressive of the two fighters, and while her strikes didn’t land at a great rate, she connected enough times to secure the victory:

In theory, blitzing Rousey right at the opening bell doesn’t seem like a bad strategy. The champion might be a bit vulnerable as she attempts to get her bearings in the fight.

In practice, just ask Cat Zingano how quickly a fight can turn when you take a more aggressive approach against Rousey:

Holm’s best chance to win will be forcing Rousey to move around the Octagon and use her striking ability, which has never been her forte.

Rousey’s coach, Edmond Tarverdyan, on the other hand, remains confident no amount of running or dodging from Holm will save her, per Submission Radio (via Fox Sports’ Elias Cepeda).

It doesn’t matter if she [Holm] tries to keep the distance or how long she wants to keep it. Champ knows exactly what she’s going to be doing in there. And even if she runs, I always say, you can run but you can’t hide. And she’s not going to be able run quicker backwards as Ronda can move forward. That’s not gonna happen. We’re not going to see that. Ronda’s legs are the best.

Simply pushing this fight to Round 2 would be a victory in and of itself for Holm since Miesha Tate is the only woman to do that against Rousey in the past.

Rousey may one day suffer her first defeat in the Octagon. However, Sunday is unlikely to be that day, and Holm is unlikely the person to make it happen.

 

Note: All fighter stats are courtesy of FightMetric.com.

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CM Punk Injury: Updates on UFC Star’s Shoulder and Return

The UFC has yet to announce when CM Punk will make his debut, and the former WWE star will have to wait to get his mixed martial arts career underway after suffering a shoulder injury in training.
Continue for updates.
Punk “50 Percent” of the Way to B…

The UFC has yet to announce when CM Punk will make his debut, and the former WWE star will have to wait to get his mixed martial arts career underway after suffering a shoulder injury in training.

Continue for updates.

Punk “50 Percent” of the Way to Being Ready for UFC Debut

Monday, Oct. 5

Punk’s trainer, Duke Roufus, confirmed Monday the 36-year-old injured his shoulder while training, per ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto:

He got caught in a scramble, so right now he’s taking a little time off. He was doing great before that. His progress has been good. He’s got a great attitude and he’s a hard worker. … Our biggest thing is we want him to 101 percent before [we resuming training]. We don’t have a hard date for his fight to force the issue, so making sure he’s completely healthy is possible.

Roufus went on to say Punk could have his first UFC fight in six to 10 months.

Speaking with TMZ in June, UFC President Dana White said Punk could have his first fight in “early 2016” but didn’t commit to any specific date.

While you can understand Roufus’ desire to wait until Punk is 100 percent ready for the UFC, Punk turns 37 years old Oct. 26. He can ill afford to wait much longer before his official introduction to the Octagon.

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Daniel Cormier vs. Alexander Gustafsson: Odds, Predictions Before Weigh-in

Although Alexander Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier are headlining UFC 192 on Saturday night, the mere thought of a return to the Octagon for Jon Jones is dominating much of the discussion heading into this weekend.
The former champion pleaded guilty to a…

Although Alexander Gustafsson and Daniel Cormier are headlining UFC 192 on Saturday night, the mere thought of a return to the Octagon for Jon Jones is dominating much of the discussion heading into this weekend.

The former champion pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from his alleged hit-and-run this past summer.

The UFC didn’t outright confirm it will lift Jones’ suspension but said in a statement it “will thoroughly review [Jones’ plea] agreement before discussing Jones’ possible reinstatement to return to competition,” via MMA Mania’s Jesse Holland.

Former UFC fighter and current Fox Sports analyst Brian Stann told FoxSports.com’s Damon Martin: 

You couldn’t have drawn up a better narrative for this thing to take place. Whether Gustafsson wins this fight, people have been clamoring to see a rematch there with Jon Jones, and obviously if Daniel Cormier defends his title and wins, it’s going to be him versus Jon Jones again. It’s going to be ridiculous in terms of the buildup for that fight and the trash talk that would take place.

Gustafsson vs. Cormier is absolutely the fight that needs to happen in UFC’s light heavyweight division and should be extremely entertaining. But in a sense, it’s really only the appetizer for the inevitable Jones return bout.

 

Prediction

According to Odds Shark, Cormier is a 1-2 favorite to win, while Gustafsson is the underdog, albeit with relatively good 17-10 odds.

While Gustafsson is the No. 3 light heavyweight in UFC’s official rankings, he lost to Jones via unanimous decision at UFC 165 and then to Anthony Johnson in a first-round TKO at UFC on Fox 14. Sandwiched between those two fights is a second-round victory over Jimi Manuwa at UFC Fight Night 37.

Cormier said of his opponent, per Martin:

If I looked at his career and his resume, I would say he beat the guys he’s supposed to beat and any time it’s a toss-up fight he loses. In the fights that he’s not overwhelmingly favored, he really hasn’t done as well as he should outside of the fight with (Jon) Jones where he was a huge underdog and he really fought outside of himself and I truly do believe it was him fighting his best fight and Jones might have fought his worst fight and it was super close.

Meanwhile, Cormier’s one loss in his competitive MMA career was to Jones at UFC 182. He followed that up with a third-round submission win over Johnson at UFC 187 for the light heavyweight title.

Since he’s the challenger, Gustafsson will need to find a delicate balance between being aggressive and cautious so he doesn’t open himself up and allow Cormier to win quickly via knockout or submission.

Gustafsson will also want to keep a safe distance so as to avoid getting in clinches, where Cormier is at his most effective. The tighter the quarters, the more Cormier dominates.

Given Gustafsson’s wrestling prowess and overall agility, staying on the outside shouldn’t be a major issue.

To a certain extent, it feels as if the 28-year-old Swede isn’t getting the respect he deserves; even Cormier is seemingly underselling Gustafsson’s accomplishments based on his above comments. Bleacher Report’s Patrick Wyman firmly believes Gustafsson is capable of winning this fight:

However, Cormier is the top guy in the light heavyweight division for a reason. He possesses a great blend of technique, strength and skill. He also proved against Jones he’s able to close the distance between himself and an opponent who tries to stay on the outside.

Plus, the onus is on Gustafsson to go above and beyond to prove he’s the better fighter. The champion’s advantage isn’t technically a real thing that’s supposed to exist, but you often see judges giving the benefit of the doubt to the guy holding the belt. If a fight is close, nine times out of 10 the champ retains.

Cormier is too good to get himself caught in a compromising situation, and he’ll do enough in the Octagon to sway the judges.

Prediction: Cormier via split decision

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