(Photo via Getty)
Holly Holm is two things.
To the sane, she’s a potential money opponent for Ronda Rousey in a sea of female fighters who simply aren’t up to snuff. Holm is closer to Rousey athletically than most other women in MMA.
To the delusional, she’s the Woman to Beat Rousey™. This sentiment is great for selling a PPV, but let’s not kid ourselves. While Holm is head and shoulders above the division, Rousey is mountains above it.
Still, MMA fans like to speculate about such matters. And whenever a fighter like Holm wins a match–or a fighter like Cris Cyborg loses one…in a different sport–this speculation reaches a fever pitch.
Holm fought this past Friday at Legacy FC 30. Holm outclassed her opponent, Juliana Werner, throughout the fight and finished her off with a devastating head kick in the fifth round (check out the GIF via @ZProphet_MMA).
This is good news, isn’t it? Cyborg losing a Muay Thai fight erases all her credibility (we don’t actually think this but Dana White probably does), so Holm winning in such a devastating way must’ve impressed White, right?
Not necessarily. Rousey’s immediate future, and therefore the immediate future of the UFC women’s bantamweight division (and by extension, women’s MMA) is still up in the air.
First of all, White hates Holm’s manager (presumably for doing their job) and is “not interested whatsoever” in her. Bummer.
Second, Holm broke her arm in the first round of her fight against Werner. A picture of Holm’s supposed X-ray has been circulating around the web, but we haven’t been able to verify it (websites are citing “Facebook” but not providing a link; Holm’s Facebook has no such picture on it) . So this might be Holly Holm’s broken left arm, or it might belong to some plebeian:
Hopefully Holm recovers soon. If Dana White’s meeting with Gina Carano goes sour, the UFC women’s bantamweight division will need her.