UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm Date: November 15, 2015 Location: Melbourne, Australia Venue: Etihad Stadium Broadcast: PPV UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey Ronda Rousey is the biggest crossover star in MMA, between her appearances in high profile movies, showing up at Wrestlemania, or her general presence in the media, there is nobody who gets more mainstream attention than the women’s bantamweight champion. It is all well deserved too, Rousey has lorded over her division to the tune of a 6-0 UFC record (12-0 overall) with 12 stoppages. Her six UFC victories have come in just 18:57 combined. After winning her first seven bouts all by armbar en route to the Strikeforce and UFC bantamweight titles, she has now added a dangerous striking arsenal to her game, stopping 3 of her past 4 opponents with strikes… all inside the first round. In fact, only Miesha Tate (the sole fighter to face Rousey twice) has made it out of the first round against the champion in her entire career. Rousey’s dominance only seems to be garnering her more attention, as people seem to be tuning in to see how (and how quickly) she will defeat her next opponent, rather than watching to see a competitive fight. Rousey’s next challenger will be former boxing champion Holly Holm, who is putting her own unblemished record on the table, and the bout will headline the UFC’s New Year’s card. UFC Women’s Bantamweight Contender Holly Holm Holly Holm is one of the most successful female boxers in history, being a longtime light welterweight and welterweight champion, and even holding titles as high as 154lbs. Her boxing record was 33-2-3 when she retired from the sport in 2012 to focus on MMA (which she had debuted in the previous year). Despite her boxing credentials, Holm’s kicking game has proven to be her most dangerous weapon, as 5 of her 6 finishes have come as a result of her legs. Her striking background also gives Holm an advantage when setting up angles and fighting at range with more inexperienced opposition. Holm has parlayed those attributes into a 9-0 record and victories in her first two UFC bouts. Although the more high profile Miesha Tate was promised a title shot coming off of her victory against Jessica Eye, UFC matchmakers decided to give champion Ronda Rousey a fresh look, and slotted in Holm for the New Year’s card instead. While very few expect Holm to pull off the win over Rousey, she seems to have the demeanor not to rush in like Rousey’s previous opponents, and perhaps her movement can make things harder for Rousey than they’ve been in the past. UFC 193 Opening Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas opened Rousey a -1450 favorite (bet $1450 to win $100) with Holm a +950 underdog (bet $100 to win $950) at Several Bookmakers, and the line is yet to move. In her career, Holm has been a massive favorite on multiple occasions, so it will be interesting to see how she fares in the role of underdog. As far as the actual fight goes, I find it hard to see any female in the UFC doing much to Rousey at this point. I don’t think Holm will be the fighter to change that. She may be able to keep the distance longer than most because of her movement, but eventually Rousey will be able to close the distance to land strikes or score a takedown from the clinch. Once that happens, Rousey’s grappling skills and overall athleticism will take over and the fight probably won’t take much longer. If Holm had a bit more pop on her punches, she might be able to keep Rousey at bay and make a fight of this. However, her kicks are the more dangerous weapon, and she would be foolish to let Rousey grab one of her legs by throwing too many kicks out in this one. That means that it will be nothing more than a game of survival for Holm, and as much as I’d like to think she can last long enough to cash the Over 1.5, I just can’t see it.
