(Gina Carano prepares for a showdown with Ronda Rousey by developing the Rouseybuster Armor MK II. / Photo via Getty)
And no, Dana White is not talking about a Facebook relationship status. He’s referring to Zuffa’s current contract negotiations with Gina Carano, the former “Face of Women’s MMA.”
Not too long ago, White triumphantly announced that the UFC would sign Carano and book her in a fight against UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey. As the old saying goes, be wary of Dana White bearing promises. This boast, like almost every other thing Dana White has ever said since this fateful interview, turned out to be bullshit.
It turns out signing the fighter-turned-actress is harder than Uncle Dana anticipated.
(Gina Carano prepares for a showdown with Ronda Rousey by developing the Rouseybuster Armor MK II. / Photo via Getty)
And no, Dana White is not talking about a Facebook relationship status. He’s referring to Zuffa’s current contract negotiations with Gina Carano, the former “Face of Women’s MMA.”
Not too long ago, White triumphantly announced that the UFC would sign Carano and book her in a fight against UFC women’s bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey. As the old saying goes, be wary of Dana White bearing promises. This boast, like almost every other thing Dana White has ever said since this fateful interview, turned out to be bullshit.
It turns out signing the fighter-turned-actress is harder than Uncle Dana anticipated.
It appears we won’t be getting Rousey-Carano, after all–at least not in 2014. While such a fight is dubious in terms of legitimacy (a fighter who hasn’t fought since 2009 earning a title shot despite coming off a loss), there’s little doubt it’d generate some much-needed heat for the UFC.
To be honest, a little heat is kind of necessary, especially for the women’s bantamweight division. Rousey crushing over-matched contenders with no name value is getting old fast. While it’s our belief that she’d destroy Carano pretty easily, it’s highly probable that Carano would generate more buzz and excitement than the likes of Alexis Davis and Cat Zingano can generate.
Until the UFC signs Carano, Holly Holm will have to suffice as Rousey’s next biggest potential opponent.
“It’s always darkest before it’s totally black.”-Mao Zedong (supposedly).
This quote aptly described MMA’s immediate future, or at least it seemed to until very recently. Card quality, fan interest, and–most importantly–numbers were all declining; 2014’s PPV buy ceiling of 350,000 was 2009’s floor. MMA was headed for a perplexing time when it was simultaneously bigger than ever but smaller than ever, when the fighters were more talented than ever but less popular than ever.
A series of fortunate events and new found circumstances can change all that. To make a Back to the Future reference, the horrific, Biff Tannen-owned Hill Valley that represented MMA’s future may well become the nice, stable Hill Valley in which George McFly is a successful fiction author and Marty McFly bangs his girlfriend in the back of a pickup truck. That is to say, MMA might be approaching a level of popularity, constancy and quality that many (including myself) didn’t think it was capable of reaching in the current climate.
“It’s always darkest before it’s totally black.”-Mao Zedong (supposedly).
This quote aptly described MMA’s immediate future, or at least it seemed to until very recently. Card quality, fan interest, and–most importantly–numbers were all declining; 2014′s PPV buy ceiling of 350,000 was 2009′s floor. MMA was headed for a perplexing time when it was simultaneously bigger than ever but smaller than ever, when the fighters were more talented than ever but less popular than ever.
A series of fortunate events and new found circumstances can change all that. To make a Back to the Future reference, the horrific, Biff Tannen-owned Hill Valley that represented MMA’s future may well become the nice, stable Hill Valley in which George McFly is a successful fiction author and Marty McFly bangs his girlfriend in the back of a pickup truck. That is to say, MMA might be approaching a level of popularity, constancy and quality that many (including myself) didn’t think it was capable of reaching in the current climate.
What’s the reason for this cautious optimism?
The initial catalyst, for me at least, is MMA’s reaction to Conor McGregor. Interest for UFC Fight Night 46 was so high you’d have thought it was headlined by Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson II rather than Conor McGregor vs. Diego Brandao. And this was on a Fight Pass card, mind you. That level of excitement for a Fight Pass card is extremely rare–as was the web traffic he brought in for a Fight Pass card. Fight Pass cards are so lackluster we refused to cover one. UFC Fight Night 46, however, garnered more traffic than even some Fox Sports 1 cards.
Conor McGregor stepping into the Octagon is an event. People need to see it. It’s no wonder then UFC Fight Night 46 was reportedly the most-watched Fight Pass event of all time. Conor McGregor has the makings of a superstar. He’s charismatic, a magnet for attention, he’s talented, and has a fan-friendly fighting style. Though McGregor is further proof stars have to be found and built up rather than manufactured by stamping “UFC” on them, McGregor is a light in the dark.
Rousey, too, is another reason the future seems bright. As I’ve noted in the past, the UFC women’s bantamweight division is little more than a promotional vehicle for Ronda Rousey. If you doubt this, look at Ronda Rousey’s fights in the UFC. Was the UFC sponsoring her or her opponent? The UFC does not dissemble its abject love of Rousey; Dana White admitted Rousey is the only reason the division exists.
As inflammatory and ridiculous as it sounded when White said it, Rousey might actually be the UFC’s biggest star. This (somewhat) justifies the UFC’s treatment of her. But watching even the greatest of fighters crush glorified jobbers in under a minute can get boring–boring enough that people won’t pay $60 to see it. Currently, the UFC women’s bantamweight division is such that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the only person getting as much attention as Rousey. That’s changing now.
Rousey-Holm, Rousey-Carano, and Rousey-Justino are far more sell-able and will garner more interest than Rousey vs. any of the other overmatched contenders in the division.
The women’s MMA landscape as a whole is changing thanks to the UFC’s inclusion of the strawweight division via TUF 20. The UFC’s current strawweight roster possesses enough personalities (Rose Namajunas, Felice Herrig, etc.) to make the weight class interesting.
Then we come to UFC Fight Pass. We’ve panned the network on CagePotato multiple times, but Zuffa is finally starting to listen to our suggestions. To that end, they will now start showing Invicta fight cards. Deals with other MMA promotions might also be in the works. They also plan to to air events in judo, wrestling, and other martial arts. Fight Pass is changing for the better. What was once a cheap cash-grab is turning into a legitimate window into the mixed martial arts ecosystem.
And finally, Bellator. Bjorn Rebney is out. Scott Coker, a man with the proven capability to put on cards fans care about (and who’s not scummy and horrible), is in. With Scott Coker’s vision and Viacom’s financial backing, Bellator 2.0 (or Spikeforce, as we like to call it) can become serious competition to the UFC, which’ll force the UFC to step up its game and offer a better product. Look at UFC Fight Night 50. Is it a coincidence that it’s one of the more loaded Fight Night cards in recent memory? Did Zuffa just feel like throwing us a bone? Of course not. UFC Fight Night 50 is going head to head with Bellator 123 that night.
There are reasons for MMA fans to be hopeful. There is an emerging star on the horizon, the UFC’s biggest existing star has more credible, higher profile foes to dispatch, a new crop of feisty and fearsome women are entering the fold, Fight Pass is becoming something you wouldn’t be ashamed of subscribing to, and we’re fast approaching the spiritual resurrection of Strikeforce and the competitive nature in MMA it entails.
Are we approaching a Golden Age? Maybe not because the sport still has a few unsolved problems. But we’re certainly approaching an age in which things get better before they get worse. Be cautiously optimistic, MMA fans.
Due to her elite boxing pedigree — and her savagearsenalof kicks — “The Preacher’s Daughter” has often been name-checked as one of the two fighters (along with Cris Cyborg) who could hypothetically give UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey problems down the road. Still, an immediate meeting with Rousey doesn’t seem likely at this point. As FOX Sports puts it, “Holm creates a different kind of animal for Rousey to deal with if she can survive an early UFC schedule to earn the title shot.” Rousey herself is recovering from a broken hand, and is also expected to undergo “minor knee surgery” in the near future.
We’ll keep you posted as the UFC’s plans for Holm solidify.
Due to her elite boxing pedigree — and her savagearsenalof kicks — “The Preacher’s Daughter” has often been name-checked as one of the two fighters (along with Cris Cyborg) who could hypothetically give UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey problems down the road. Still, an immediate meeting with Rousey doesn’t seem likely at this point. As FOX Sports puts it, “Holm creates a different kind of animal for Rousey to deal with if she can survive an early UFC schedule to earn the title shot.” Rousey herself is recovering from a broken hand, and is also expected to undergo “minor knee surgery” in the near future.
We’ll keep you posted as the UFC’s plans for Holm solidify.
You see, when I awoke yesterday morning, I was under the impression that MMA was still a sport with plenty of goings-on worth talking about, not a platform so desolate of intriguing discussion that its only current purpose in this world was to push energy drinks and stir up farcical “Who would win?” scenarios like a goddamn episode of Deadliest Warrior. “There are *two* UFC events alone going down this week,” I said to myself, “Not to mention an *actual* TUF premiere, a Bellator event, and who knows what else. Surely there is plenty of real-life, newsworthy information to be had today.”
So you can imagine my surprise when I awoke to find “Joe Rogan says Ronda Rousey would beat Floyd Mayweather Jr.” as the headline dominating manyanMMA site and even some that aren’t. And even worse, nearly all of these articles were flooded with the hundreds of comments from people who actually found it necessary to offer their insight into this absolutely imbecilic piece of non-news. (Rousey vs. a cheetah in sweatpants: Who’s the better dancer?”)
“Every fight starts standing, and we all know Floyd’s not afraid to hit women,” joked a commenter who vehemently expressed his outrage over the idea of allowing Fallon Fox to continue fighting just months earlier. “Floyd’s speed would be no match for Ronda’s armbar,” said another who had chastised his favorite MMA publication for daring to waste his time with a breakdown of the Undertaker’s signature move days prior.
I bit my tongue at first, because I don’t exactly have a foot to stand on when it comes to publishing news items that are ever-so-tangentially related to MMA. But the tipping point occurred during last night’s TUF Nations Finale broadcast, when during yet another time-killing session in the FOX studios, Karyn Bryant posed the same question to Daniel Cormier and Anthony Pettis.
“This is ridiculous,” said Pettis before declaring that Floyd would easily win. Unfortunately, it appeared that the idea of a woman beating a man in a fight was what Pettis found ridiculous, not the question itself as I had hoped.
(Joe Rogan talks Rousey vs. Mayweather on ESPN’s SportsNation, because it’s not like there was an actual event worth discussing or anything.)
You see, when I awoke yesterday morning, I was under the impression that MMA was still a sport with plenty of goings-on worth talking about, not a platform so desolate of intriguing discussion that its only current purpose in this world was to push energy drinks and stir up farcical “Who would win?” scenarios like a goddamn episode of Deadliest Warrior. “There are *two* UFC events alone going down this week,” I said to myself, “Not to mention an *actual* TUF premiere, a Bellator event, and who knows what else. Surely there is plenty of real-life, newsworthy information to be had today.”
So you can imagine my surprise when I awoke to find “Joe Rogan says Ronda Rousey would beat Floyd Mayweather Jr.” as the headline dominating manyanMMA site and even some that aren’t. And even worse, nearly all of these articles were flooded with the hundreds of comments from people who actually found it necessary to offer their insight into this absolutely imbecilic piece of non-news. (Rousey vs. a cheetah in sweatpants: Who’s the better dancer?”)
“Every fight starts standing, and we all know Floyd’s not afraid to hit women,” joked a commenter who vehemently expressed his outrage over the idea of allowing Fallon Fox to continue fighting just months earlier. “Floyd’s speed would be no match for Ronda’s armbar,” said another who had chastised his favorite MMA publication for daring to waste his time with a breakdown of the Undertaker’s signature move days prior.
I bit my tongue at first, because I don’t exactly have a foot to stand on when it comes to publishing news items that are ever-so-tangentially related to MMA. But the tipping point occurred during last night’s TUF Nations Finale broadcast, when during yet another time-killing session in the FOX studios, Karyn Bryant posed the same question to Daniel Cormier and Anthony Pettis.
“This is ridiculous,” said Pettis before declaring that Floyd would easily win. Unfortunately, it appeared that the idea of a woman beating a man in a fight was what Pettis found ridiculous, not the question itself as I had hoped.
Despite the vast majority of MMA fans claiming to be “purists of the sport” who will blow a gasket at the slightest mention of the WWE and it’s transparent, lowball, and shamefully fabricated product on an MMA site, the discussion of how Ronda Rousey — a female, MMA fighter, with less than 10 professional contests to her credit — would fare against Floyd Mayweather Jr. — a male, professional boxer, considered to be one of the greatest in the sport’s history — in an MMA contest has somehow managed to infiltrate message boards far and wide and warrant hundreds of comments from these very same people. Baffling, is it not?
I know this piece of absolutely imbecilic (apologies for the repetition, but I find it necessary in this case) non-news is nothing worth flying off the handle over, but this is the Internet after all. My biggest problem with the idea of Rousey vs. Mayweather is why we are so insistent on pushing this impossible fight in a universe where guys like Renan Barao and Jose Aldo exist. You know, guys who are guys and whose names would therefore make more sense as opponents in the ain’t-no-way-never-gonna-happen prospect of Floyd Mayweather becoming an MMA fighter. The downside of being the only “the biggest star the UFC’s ever had,” perhaps?
It’s all about how much time Floyd has to prepare, because he will really have to work on his takedown defense. That would be the big thing. If Ronda got a clinch on him, it’s not just about worrying about being taken down to the ground, it’s worrying about knees to the body. It is worrying about her manipulating his body in ways that he doesn’t understand.
Those were actual words spoken by the typically sane Joe Rogan when seriously discussing (for all intents and purposes) the idea of Rousey vs. Mayweather. Ronda Rousey, who fights Alexis Davis in a couples months at UFC 175. UFC, the promotion that is putting on two fight cards this week including “the most exciting card in network history” at UFC on FOX 11 tomorrow night.
Look, I’m not asking you to openly express your disapproval with the thought of Rousey vs. Mayweather (I’ve already done it for you!), nor am I asking you to blame the MMA media for validating the half-witted discussion of Rousey vs. Mayweather with a plethora of blog posts. I’m simply asking that the next time you see or hear someone make a comparison between MMA/the UFC/Bellator and the WWE, think about how you reacted to this “news” item before you speak. Think about it and add it to the list.
To be honest, we’re a little disappointed. We wanted one of the “big three” names that get thrown around when Rousey is mentioned–Carano, Cyborg, or Holm.
Dana White met with Gina Carano recently, but apparently nothing came of it–at least nothing immediate. It’s still possible that they eventually work something out. Who knows, maybe Carano will face Rousey at the UFC’s year-end card. And while Carano getting an immediate title shot after several years of inactivity would be insane, the amount of buzz that a Carano-Rousey fight would generate is undeniable (even if the fight itself would be one-sided in favor of Rousey).
So it looks like the Rousey hype train will justifiably pick up more steam this July at UFC 175. We’re not going to officially call the fight right now to avoid a “Dewey Defeats Truman” scenario, but a Rousey win is certainly more likely. Davis just isn’t on the same level in terms of skill and raw athleticism. Remember our theory about the UFC women’s bantamweight division just being a feeder system for Rousey? Looking more true with each booking!
To the sane, she’s a potential money opponent for Ronda Rousey in a sea of female fighters who simply aren’t up to snuff. Holm is closer to Rousey athletically than most other women in MMA.
To the delusional, she’s the Woman to Beat Rousey™. This sentiment is great for selling a PPV, but let’s not kid ourselves. While Holm is head and shoulders above the division, Rousey is mountains above it.
Still, MMA fans like to speculate about such matters. And whenever a fighter like Holm wins a fighter–or a fighter like Cris Cyborg loses one…in a different sport–this speculation reaches a fever pitch.
Holm fought this past Friday at Legacy FC 30. Holm outclassed her opponent, Juliana Werner, throughout the fight and finished her off with a devastating head kick in the fifth round (check out the GIF via @ZProphet_MMA).
This is good news, isn’t it? Cyborg losing a Muay Thai fight erases all her credibility (we don’t actually think this but Dana White probably does), so Holm winning in such a devastating way must’ve impressed White, right?
To the sane, she’s a potential money opponent for Ronda Rousey in a sea of female fighters who simply aren’t up to snuff. Holm is closer to Rousey athletically than most other women in MMA.
To the delusional, she’s the Woman to Beat Rousey™. This sentiment is great for selling a PPV, but let’s not kid ourselves. While Holm is head and shoulders above the division, Rousey is mountains above it.
Still, MMA fans like to speculate about such matters. And whenever a fighter like Holm wins a match–or a fighter like Cris Cyborg loses one…in a different sport–this speculation reaches a fever pitch.
Holm fought this past Friday at Legacy FC 30. Holm outclassed her opponent, Juliana Werner, throughout the fight and finished her off with a devastating head kick in the fifth round (check out the GIF via @ZProphet_MMA).
This is good news, isn’t it? Cyborg losing a Muay Thai fight erases all her credibility (we don’t actually think this but Dana White probably does), so Holm winning in such a devastating way must’ve impressed White, right?
Not necessarily. Rousey’s immediate future, and therefore the immediate future of the UFC women’s bantamweight division (and by extension, women’s MMA) is still up in the air.
Second, Holm broke her arm in the first round of her fight against Werner. A picture of Holm’s supposed X-ray has been circulating around the web, but we haven’t been able to verify it (websites are citing “Facebook” but not providing a link; Holm’s Facebook has no such picture on it) . So this might be Holly Holm’s broken left arm, or it might belong to some plebeian:
