Ronda Rousey has her next fight and it won’t be a trilogy fight with Miesha Tate.
In a rather shocking announcement on Friday’s edition of Good Morning America, ”Rowdy” told the ABC crew that her next opponent is none other than former boxing world champion Holly Holm. The fight is set for Jan. 2 in Las Vegas at UFC 195.
“She’s actually the most decorated striker we have in all of mixed martial arts,” Rousey said, praising her next opponent. “Not just the women’s division, not the bantamweight division – like, 19-time boxing world champion Holly Holm was The Ring Magazine pound-for-pound female fighter of the year.”
Holm is, unquestionably, the most decorated boxer that has ever fought in the UFC. Sure, James Toney battled Randy Couture at UFC 118 in 2010, but that fight was met with eye-rolls and very few actually took the match seriously (Couture submitted Toney in the first round).
Many expected Miesha Tate to get the honor of fighting the world’s most dominant mixed martial artist, after she beat Jessica Eye at UFC on Fox in July. After all, UFC president Dana White all but assured the winner of that fight would be the next rightful No. 1 contender. Tate has also managed to run off four very impressive wins since her last defeat to Rousey in 2013, and has certainly earned her way into title contention.
Holm is fine, though. Rousey calls her “intense and unpredictable.” She certainly has the flash and pedigree that will interest fans – and at this point, surely the UFC is looking for someone Rousey hasn’t beaten (twice).
However, Holm has only two UFC fights to her credit. They have been suitable wins and have kept Holm undefeated at 9-0. Unfortunately for Holm fans, both fights were unanimous decision victories that left something to be desired, at least when compared to the crazy frenetic energy of a Rousey fight.
“I prepare for a five-round war every time I get in there,” Rousey said when asked why people would even want to buy her fights after the last three have ended in a combined 64 seconds. “No one is easy until after you beat them. And Holly Holm, she’s the type who’s ready to go 12 boxing rounds. She’s not the average chick that I would fight. She’s the best striker I’ve ever fought, and striking is something I started later in my career.”
Rousey may have started dabbling in the art of stand-up later in her career, but that didn’t stop her from knocking out Brazilian Bethe Correia in her last fight at UFC 190 in only 34 seconds.
Sure, Rousey may be one of the most dominant athletes of her generation, but dominance has never really been a bad thing in sports. One way or another, fans will tune in to see the wrecking ball that is Ronda Rousey continue, or they will tune in with the hopes of seeing dominance dethroned.
“No one knows exactly how the fights are going to go, and that’s why everybody buys them,” Rousey said. “There’s no feel-out periods during my fight; it starts right away. You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
That might be true. Then again, early odds have Rousey labeled as a 12-to-1 favorite, and it’s looking more and more like Holly Holm will just be another notch in the proverbial championship belt of the “Rowdy” one.
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