UFC 170: ROUSEY VS. McMANN Date: Feb. 22, 2014 Location: Mandalay Bay Events Center — Las Vegas, NV Broadcast: PPV UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey (-705) Profile: The first American woman to medal in Olympic Judo, Ronda Rousey (8-0) has gone from promising amateur to the reason why women’s MMA is in the UFC within two and a half years. Her meteoric rise through the sport is as unprecedented as her eight-straight armbar wins, seven of which have come in the first round. Rousey was the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion, and is now the reigning and defending UFC women’s bantamweight champ. Her judo is seemingly impossible to defend against, and, at 26-years-old, her striking gets better with every fight. No woman has been able to truly threaten her, with Rousey finishing the likes of Sarah Kaufman, Miesha Tate (2x), Liz Carmouche and Julia Budd wise ease. She’s one of the most dominant champs in women’s MMA history, and looks to continue her assent to the top of the sport with a win over Sara McMann at UFC 170. UFC Women’s Bantamweight Sara McMann (+435) Profile: Women’s Olympic Freestyle Wrestling’s silver medal winner Sara McMann (7-0) has followed many of her fellow Olympians into MMA with great success. The 33-year-old McMann slowly transitioned into MMA after a series of trials in ADCC, the FILA grappling world championships and more, until she started her career in earnest two months after Ronda Rousey. Now, McMann stands across from her fellow Olympian challenging for the UFC bantamweight title. McMann certainly has what it takes to beat any woman in the world. She’s a smart competitor, has cardio to last for days and knows what it takes to win. Her striking has been developing nicely, and her ground and pound is definitely something to worry about. McMann made her UFC debut at UFC 159 and promptly defeated Sheila Gaff via TKO after dominating her on the ground. Now, let’s see if she can do that to Rousey. Opening UFC Odds Analysis: MMA oddsmaker Nick Kalikas made Rousey a -705 betting favorite (bet $705 to win $100), while McMann opened as a +435 underdog (bet $100 to win 435$) at Several Bookmakers. It’s a battle of two undefeated Olympian grapplers, and it’s going to be the main event of one of the biggest events of the year when it takes place in February. Obviously everyone knows how good Rousey is by now. With her combination of relentless judo takedowns and an armbar that can tap out any woman fighter on the planet, Rousey is not someone to mess with. But if there’s anyone who matches up well against her, it’s McMann, a dominant wrestler who — if she’s able to stuff Rousey’s throws and takedowns — will makes things very interesting on the feet. And even if Rousey is able to get the takedowns on McMann, it’s not going to be easy to submit her. Based on the public hype, Rousey is a massive favorite here, but if you ask me it’s a dog-or-pass situation here all the way, and don’t be surprised if the dog ends up biting.
