One of the most anticipated spectacles in mixed martial arts has finally arrived, as Ronda Rousey gears up to defend her women’s bantamweight title against Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 193.
Despite the main event featuring the most dominant name in the sport and a vaunted veteran trying to dethrone her, it’s just the final course of a scintillating fight card.
With that in mind, let’s look at the entire card and how to catch all of the action before further breaking down the Rousey-Holm spectacle.
UFC 193 Main Card
Main Event TV Info and Live Stream
Rousey vs. Holm
As if any fight featuring Rousey doesn’t generate enough attention, she and Holm only upped the intrigue for Saturday’s clash with some weigh-in dramatics.
Both fighters stepped onto the scale and tipped it at 134 pounds on the dot. They subsequently stepped up for their pre-fight picture, with each supposed to raise her fists toward the other and stand still.
That didn’t quite happen. Holm stepped in a little too close for Rousey‘s comfort, then pushing and shoving ensued that led folks to believe the fight might happen right there. SportsCenter captured a photo of the moment:
Holm will have her real shot at Rousey come Saturday night in the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia. And if UFC President Dana White‘s comments are any indication, it will be her hardest opponent to beat yet.
Sure, Rousey has fought 12 times and won all of them. But none have come against the 34-year-old who is decorated with championships in virtually every major promotion outside of UFC.
Holm‘s amount of fights throughout her career could be to her advantage against Rousey, White told CBS Sports’ Lyle Fitzsimmons.
“This is the biggest challenge Ronda has faced,” White said. “When you look at her combat sports experience, it’s not even close. She’s had three times the number of fights.”
Holm has had exponentially more experience in the Octagon than Rousey, whose 12 fights hardly span half an hour of time. In 11 of those, she’s won in the first round, and her opponent hasn’t made it past a minute in eight of them.
But Holm isn’t your average Rousey opponent, as she’s well-versed in the sport—perhaps more so than Rousey. That doesn’t take anything away from Rousey‘s incredible power and submission dominance but should still put her on alert.
Holm will do well to extend the fight past the minute mark and avoid getting taken down in the early goings, but she won’t be able to delay the inevitable. Rousey gets her to the canvas in the middle of Round 1, submitting her with ease to preserve her title as the best fighter in the sport.
Prediction: Rousey wins via first-round submission.
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