In the aftermath of UFC 170, the biggest question coming out of the event was an obvious one: Who should be next opponent for champion Ronda Rousey? The answer is a lot more simple than people are leading on.
There are four names that have floated around since Rousey finished Sara McMann with a first-round liver shot. Those four women are current Invicta featherweight champion Cris “Cyborg” Justino, boxing champion Holly Holm, Cat Zingano and Alexis Davis.
Of those four names, there is really only one option for Rousey going forward. Three of the women make no sense at this point, which we will dive into right now.
The most obvious option in a lot of people’s minds is Cyborg, who many think is the best female fighter in the world. Everyone thinks this will be the biggest money-making fight for the women, which is likely very true.
That being said, this is not the right fight to make at the moment.
The big problem with booking Cyborg and Rousey is that we don’t know if Cyborg can make weight. Dana White even said, per MMA Fighting, he’s in no rush to make that fight and that he and the UFC would “see what happens” if Cyborg can make 135 pounds a couple times.
This may outrage fans, but look at it from a business standpoint. Cyborg may just want to fight Rousey just to fight Rousey. Will she really stick around and hold the belt if she does beat Rousey, or will she scurry back to 145 pounds, thus making the UFC belt useless?
Not only that, but White has a point in her making weight a couple times. If Cyborg-Rousey was made and on the day of weigh-ins Cyborg came in overweight, that fight would be worthless. Or, in the process of cutting weight, Cyborg could be hospitalized and kill the main event of a card.
There is a big risk on Cyborg. So, forcing her make weight a couple times is indeed smart. She should not be next for Rousey.
People have thrown Holly Holm in the mix, despite the fact she hasn’t taken a bout with the UFC yet. Not only that, but she isn’t signed to the UFC.
Holm would definitely represent the best striker Rousey has ever faced, but jumping Holm in line over other women who have already established themselves in the UFC would be wrong. Let Holm build herself up so that when she does get her title shot, she actually has the MMA credentials to warrant a shot at Rousey.
That leaves us with two women: Zingano and Davis.
The reason you have to go with Davis over Zingano is because of the circumstances surrounding Zingano‘s life right now.
Zingano was the outright top contender until she hurt her knee and was shelved for an extended period of time. Not only that, but just when it looked like she was ready to get back into training, tragedy struck in the form of her husband, Mauricio Zingano, passing away.
There is no way she is ready to get back into the cage based on the injury and personal tragedy. We don’t know how long she’ll be out.
That’s where Davis comes in. She is undoubtedly the next person in line for Rousey.
Davis is 3-0 in the UFC and beat Jessica Eye on the same night that Rousey retained against McMann. Davis has the most wins of all the female contenders in the UFC, so her getting the title shot is simple logic.
Although the biggest money maker would definitely be Rousey-Cyborg, and the promised bout we had was Rousey-Zingano, Alexis Davis should be the next person to fight Ronda Rousey. It is a logical matchup that takes a grappler and puts her in the cage with another grappler.
We will see who the UFC actually goes with in the coming months.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com