Now three days post-UFC 193, the leading news in MMA is still centered around Ronda Rousey and how she will recover from her brutal KO to Holly Holm. Floyd Mayweather is offering to help her with her boxing, memes are popping up all over the place, she’s hiding her face from reporters in airports, and a preliminary betting line has been opened for their potential rematch (Rousey is favored -195, to Holm’s +165). There are plenty people who have reveled in bashing Rousey from all corners over the past couple of days. Things have even gotten to the point where MMA’s ‘white knights’ are starting to emerge from their slumber to defend Rousey. It’s highly entertaining to watch the aftermath from a distance, and this reaction should lead nicely into stories of whether Conor McGregor will suffer a similar fall at the hands of Jose Aldo come UFC 194. There is still actual MMA news going on though, as Bellator made a pair of announcements yesterday. First, the promotion revealed that there will be Bellator events in London, Tel Aviv, and Italy in 2016. While the British contingent of the Bellator roster is well-known, hopefully this means we get to see Alessio Sakara leading the charge for MMA in Italy as some thought he would nearly a decade ago in the UFC. As for over-the-hill Israeli fighters that Bellator can bring in… what’s Moti Horenstein up to these days? Judging by the other roster moves made by the company, Sakara and Horenstein may slide in as immediate title contenders should they sign with Bellator. The other announcement was the booking of a rematch between Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire and Derek Anderson for Bellator 147. The card will be taking place on December 4th in San Jose, and will be headlined by Josh Thomson’s second fight in the Bellator cage. Anderson won the first meeting between these two via unanimous decision back in September of 2013. He was able to take over the fight as Freire gassed late, and pulled off a rather large upset as a +320 underdog. Since then, Anderson has gone 2-2, alternating wins and losses. ‘Pitbull’ has seen a bit more success, going 4-1 since the loss to Anderson, including wins over David Rickels and Saad Awad. The betting line will be much closer this time around, but ‘Pitbull’ will likely still be favored. On the feet, the fight will be competitive, but Anderson has struggled with his grappling in his two recent losses, and that is something Freire could exploit if he comes in with the right gameplan.
