Since she made the full-time switch to MMA in 2013, Holly Holm has been on a collision course with Ronda Rousey. The former boxing champion, some pundits and fans have said, has a real chance of defeating the grappling-first UFC queenpin.
Now that the time has arrived, in the aftermath of two somewhat underwhelming performances and Rousey’s string of unreal dominance, oddsmakers are less confident in Holm’s chances. She stands as a 12:1 underdog at UFC 193, which goes down Saturday night at Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
Still, at least on paper, Holm provides a challenge Rousey has never seen before in the form of world-class striking.
Rousey has become an international superstar by any metric, with film roles and regular appearances in the mainstream media, and she is undeniably the main attraction. The rest of the card, however, still holds real intrigue.
In the co-main event, strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk defends her belt for the second time against Valerie Letourneau. The Pole seems to be on the verge of stardom herself with her fan-friendly style and charisma, and the UFC is looking to capitalize on Rousey’s success by introducing a second yet very different female champion to a wide audience.
Aside from the out-of-place heavyweight bout between Stefan Struve and Jared Rosholt that opens the pay-per-view portion of the event, the rest of the main card caters to the 55,000-plus Australian fans who will pack into the biggest venue in the promotion’s history.
Aging but popular heavyweights Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva will run it back after their first fight ended in a draw in December 2013. Flashy striker Uriah Hall takes his fifth fight in 2015 against Australia resident Robert Whittaker in an outstanding middleweight matchup.
The preliminary card is full of Australian fighters. The highlights are talented prospect Jake Matthews headlining the Fox Sports 1 portion of the broadcast and the flyweight scrap between Ben Nguyen and Ryan Benoit that opens the Fight Pass prelims, which should be a barnburner. Otherwise, there is little of interest even to hardcore fight fans.
Let’s take a look at each individual matchup.