Ronda Rousey, the most dominant champion in UFC history, has fought wrestlers, jiu-jitsu black belts and rock-’em-sock-’em brawlers. Each, in turn, has been dispatched—most in the first round, many in the first minute.
A new challenge awaits in the form of boxer Holly Holm, a former world champion in that sport who has wracked up an impressive 9-0 record in her burgeoning MMA career. Holm will bring her rangy jab and quick feet into the Octagon to test Rousey at UFC 195 on January 2 in Las Vegas. It’s a bout that, on Twitter at least, sparked no small amount of controversy.
The New Year’s weekend show traditionally features one of the promotion’s biggest stars—and Rousey certainly fits that bill. Can Holm live up to her end of the bargain? Or was Miesha Tate, originally expected to be Rousey‘s next opponent, the better choice?
Lead writers Jeremy Botter and Jonathan Snowden, Bleacher Report’s version of The Captain and Tenille will explore the fight and render a verdict.
Jonathan: The Internet exploded when Rousey announced—on Good Morning America by the way—that she’d be fighting Holly Holm in January. Not only is that about as mainstream as it gets, but it was actually a pleasant surprise. Until that moment, I had been under the impression that Rousey‘s next fight would be against Tate. Frankly, that wasn’t doing much to excite me.
While she’s a fine fighter, and one who seems to be improving well into her career, Tate’s also a fighter who has lost twice to Rousey. Neither fight was particularly competitive. Holm may or may not manage to push Rousey to her limits. She’s struggled at times in her brief UFC career and fights a style predicated on being better than her opponent for 25 minutes. That’s a tough task against a fighter like Rousey, who punishes any mistake harshly.
But while Holm may not be a tougher test than Tate, at the very least she’s a different kind of test. I think that’s important as Rousey continues to build her legacy and carry the sport to the masses.
Jeremy: I don’t think Rousey will struggle much, if at all, when facing Holm.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going to go on Twitter and proclaim that the sky is falling because Holm hasn’t faced any top-10 opponents and doesn’t deserve such a lofty fight. I’ve seen social media users say that nobody will buy this fight and that it should be on free television. People seriously say this mere weeks after more than 1 million people bought a fight to see Rousey face Bethe Correia!
And you’re right: Holm is a different test. I didn’t really mind the idea of seeing Rousey-Tate 3, but that’s mostly because at this point, Rousey fights have become an exercise in “how fast is she gonna win this time?” And while there’s nothing wrong with that, to an extent, we already know that Tate can take her past the first round. Hell, maybe this time Tate takes her to a decision? What a wondrous moment that would be!
Yeah, we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel here. Which is why I’m fine with Holm getting this shot. But the only way this truly works is if they match up Tate with Cris Cyborg, ideally on the same card. That’s my opinion, anyway; I’d like to know yours.
Jonathan: Styles make fights. What’s interesting about Holm is that she’s going to do things Rousey has never seen before in the cage. Almost everyone charges at Ronda, hoping to land that desperation knockout punch before inevitably getting dumped on their head and submitted.
Holm isn’t that kind of fighter. She’ll be on her bicycle throughout, cutting angles, throwing body kicks and basically trying to stay the heck away from Rousey. It has the potential to test the champ’s patience and technique.
Or maybe she’ll get trucked like everyone else. At least with Holm, there is a path to victory. Most fighters can’t make that claim.
As for Cyborg, if I were the UFC I’d be scared to death of a fight with Tate. In a best-case scenario, you do the fight on the Rousey undercard, and she overwhelms Tate just like she overwhelms everyone else. That sets up the huge Cyborg vs. Rousey fight we’ve all been waiting for.
But what if Cyborg struggles with her weight cut and then struggles with Tate? Would it be better to sell a fight between Rousey and Cyborg’s highlight reel? That becomes harder if Tate pushes her limits—or worse, beats her. What then?
Jeremy: If Cyborg can’t get it done against Tate, then I don’t have much interest in seeing her try against Rousey. She’s a terrifying force of nature, to be sure, but if she gets out-grappled by a high school wrestler? Rousey will literally throw her around the Octagon at will.
My thing is: The UFC will almost certainly want Rousey on the UFC 200 card next summer. They’ll want to build up an opponent for her. Sure, you can throw Cyborg right in there and sell a lot of pay-per-views.
But imagine if she goes in and destroys Tate on the undercard of Rousey-Holm? Casual fans will finally know who she is, and they will fear her, and they will believe she is a legitimate threat.
And by the same token, if Tate beats this terrifying woman who we’ve been hearing for years is the biggest threat to Rousey‘s throne? She suddenly becomes a much more interesting challenger, even after losing the first two bouts.
Yeah, you waste one contender by booking that fight. But in doing so, you also build up a special challenger for Rousey, even if it’s Tate for the third time.
Jonathan: I agree. It works out well if Cyborg steamrolls Tate or if Tate pulls off a miracle. But what if Cyborg comes out at 135 pounds and reveals herself to be the kind of fighter who struggles with Ronda’s leftovers?
That, to me, makes the subsequent Rousey fight just a little bit less exciting.
The safest play is leaving Cyborg behind the curtain and unveiling her only when it matters most. But perhaps it’s worth the gamble to turn this fight into the kind of mega-event this sport has yet to see.
No matter who she fights, if Rousey is on television, it’s appointment viewing. Let’s face it: Tate, Holm and Cyborg would all be some variation of “that woman who is fighting Ronda Rousey” to most in the mainstream.
It didn’t really matter who Steven Seagal was beating up when he was at the height of his action-star fame. You just knew somebody was taking a brutal beating. That’s where we are with Rousey. And you know what? I’m loving it.
Jonathan Snowden and Jeremy Botter cover combat sports for Bleacher Report.
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