Raise your hand if you want to see Ronda Rousey defend the UFC women’s bantamweight title against Bethe Correia. What about Jessica Eye?
The multitude of crickets chirping in the background can be heard a million miles away.
If we are talking about what’s deserved, then by all means, give Correia or Eye the next shot at Rousey. But are either of those matchups what pay-per-view customers want to see? It’s obviously slim pickings from here on out, seeing as Rousey has made the rest of the division look like a Great Value brand of competition.
Perhaps the only sensible fight for Rousey at this point is a rematch with Cat Zingano. Yes, we’re talking about the same Zingano that landed zero strikes and got submitted by Rousey in 14 seconds at UFC 184. A quick rundown of potential contenders all lead back to Zingano.
Those hoping to see Holly Holm rise to the challenge were disappointed on Saturday night, as the women’s boxing legend eked out a split decision over Raquel Pennington. At the UFC 184 post-fight press conference, she admitted to falling victim to UFC jitters in her debut and gave a lukewarm response when asked about competing for the title.
An often talked about superfight between Rousey and Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino is still on the table, but honestly, the odds of Justino losing 40 pounds to compete at bantamweight is about as likely as Ed O’Neill signing with the UFC to fight CM Punk.
A third fight with Miesha Tate would be a viable option at this point, but Tate’s longtime standing as a top contender in the division would be better used to test the likes of Correia or Eye, who both lack wins over top-10 opposition at 135 pounds.
Even Rousey admitted Zingano deserved another shot at their post-fight presser:
I said that we should do this again, and I think she definitely deserves another shot. Sometimes fights just go down like that. I’m lucky to have a lot of experience in Judo, and there were times I walked out and just got dumped on my head right away, and I just wasn’t myself that day.
It didn’t mean that I didn’t deserve to be in that fight or that I couldn’t beat that other person. It was just that for some reason I wasn’t there, and I understand that feeling and I know what Cat is capable of and I would definitely like to see more of what she’s capable of.
Surely Zingano is capable of more than a 14-second submission loss. We’d have to hope that the same fighter who always finds a way to overcome the odds, in life and in the cage, is capable of giving fans more than what she gave on Saturday night.
It’s typically unheard of for opponents to get an immediate rematch after getting smoked so easily, but these aren’t exactly normal circumstances in the women’s bantamweight division.
Zingano presents at least a form of hopeful competition, and at this point, that’s all we can ask for.
Jordy McElroy is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon and FanRag Sports.
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