The UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship now adorns the waist of Holly Holm. On Saturday night, Holm stifled the previously unbeaten and already legendary Ronda Rousey until stumbling her in the second round. Holm pressed Rousey as she backed up and hit her with a left high kick that sent Rousey to the canvas with a thud. A few punches later, the biggest upset in MMA history was complete. Holm had the belt given to her by a sour-faced Dana White and Rousey left the cage and the building.
Uncertainty surrounds the former champion now in her post-fight silence and surrounds the women’s bantamweight division as a whole. Holm created more questions than she answered last night and we now have hindsight to answer a few of those.
What’s next for Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey?
Nolan Howell: I want to say a Rousey rematch will be made in short order, but this really could give Rousey the out she wants to go into Hollywood or whatever venture she chooses. One thing we know for certain about Rousey is her unpredictability. She could just as easily walk away after a temporary shattering of confidence as she could come back even more mean and motivated. I think a hiatus similar to George St. Pierre is the next step for Rousey, where she does a few movies or other vehicles and tests the waters. I don’t see her having a career any better than Gina Carano’s for a number of reasons and I imagine she will be back after a year or two.
For Holm, a title defense is coming up after a month or two of rest. I predict it will be a name more out of left field if it isn’t Rousey, like an Amanda Nunes. Miesha Tate has the right to the next shot, but Dana White is giving her hints to retire for whatever reason. I also don’t think they want to give a terribly dangerous opponent to someone who could have gotten a bit of the rub from beating a previously unbeatable megastar (think like Weidman after beating Silva). Holm could have star potential, but will the UFC be willing to capitalize on it?
Luke Irwin: Dana was probably pining for a rematch before Rousey’s unconscious body even hit the canvas, so unless Ronda doesn’t want it, that’s going to happen. If Ronda wants to take time off, as her coach stated, she’ll immediately get a rematch whenever she wants it. Like Nolan, I also think this would be a good stepping off point if she wants to get out. A rematch would only tarnish her further. She’s not going to win the rematch. The holes in her game against Holm were so glaringly obvious that she’s not going to find the answers in six months. ESPECIALLY if she stays at her camp with her delusional coach who told her she was “perfect” after Round 1 and says, even today, that she didn’t lose the striking battle with Holm.
For The Preacher’s Daughter, this opens up a breadth of fresh, interesting matchups. As an unabashed Miesha Tate fan, I’m very interested in what her toughness, granite chin, cardio, and relentless wrestling will pose for Holm. Cat Zingano isn’t a thousand-times as bad as she looked against Rousey and you know she desperately wants another chance. Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena are lurking, too. She won’t be such a flashy, dominant of a champion as Rousey, because that’s not her style, but she’ll win a lot of fights and make a lot of girls look pedestrian.
Is Holly Holm going to be a draw as champion?
Nolan Howell: I really don’t see how she couldn’t be if the UFC wants to put their marketing muscle behind her. Holm is a lot less prickly than Rousey and could be marketed just as easily on her looks as she was during her boxing run. Holm can also be just as exciting while also appealing to the core audience with her technique. Add these facts to the potential draw by association of defeating the previous golden goose and there is a lot of potential for Holm.
Luke Irwin: If it’s up to the UFC? No, no she isn’t. The UFC’s marketing of their fighters is at an all-time low. They’ve chosen to promote the UFC name and brand above all else and the only fighters who get any traction are the fighters who promote themselves, like Rousey and Conor McGregor. My faith in the UFC is sub-zero for how they market their fighters these days and Holm isn’t the kind of competitor that will put on a promoter’s hat and dole out her greatness. Her story and her accolades are fantastic, she’s the first-ever world boxing and UFC champion, and she’s a true role model for young women everywhere, but knowing how lazy, predictable, and goddamned boring the UFC is with their marketing, she’ll just be the girl who beat Ronda.
Where does the women’s 135 lbs. division sit?
Nolan Howell: With the loss of Rousey, I really don’t think it bodes well for the division. Holm has to go through all of the former Rousey opponents who have managed to hang on to their standing in the division and there is really no reason to bring in Cyborg if Rousey isn’t around. If Rousey does return, there is a possibility that she fights Cyborg before taking another loss to get the last squeeze. There are too many variables to set a concrete path.
However, after Dana’s post-show press conference, I’m almost leaning towards extinction of women’s bantamweight post-Rousey. Pressing the second biggest star in the division into retirement despite her being able to beat anyone but Rousey is really troubling. If Rousey doesn’t come back, take a close look at the first few title defenses of Holm and the marketing surrounding them. That will be a good indicator of where the division is going. Putting the division on hiatus is drastic and less likely, but a possibility nonetheless. I think, if not an extended hiatus, we could be going the way of Fight Pass and FOX title defenses, which is essentially the death blow to the relevance of the division in the UFC.
Luke Irwin: I think the division itself is in terrific shape. Here’s the thing; a dominant champion seldom makes for a good and interesting division. With champs like Demetrious Johnson, Rousey, and Anderson Silva and BJ Penn in the past, it was never a division so much as a list of names who will be fed to the champion in order. This opens this up tremendously, and this has to be a kick in the ass and a breath of fresh air that was needed for the roster of women at 135. Ronda can be beat, you just couldn’t do it. You weren’t good enough. Miesha was probably never fighting Ronda for the title again. Dana all but assured that. Cat Zingano was made such a fool by Ronda the first time, it’d be a hell of a climb to sell her as a contender to Rousey again.
This is essentially giving every challenger in the division a fresh start. Miesha didn’t lose a title fight twice, she lost twice to Ronda. People will see a difference in that, even though there isn’t one. The UFC’s clueless obsession over Ronda might actually work in a way they could have never expected. By making her bigger than the division, they’ve essentially given the division a reset button.
What does Cyborg bring to the division at this point?
Nolan Howell: Unless Rousey is involved, I don’t think Dana and crew take the risk of having Cyborg in the UFC. While the potential to regain steam as a draw is likely, it is outweighed by PED concerns (no matter how unreasonable they are at this stage), weight cutting concerns, and an already rocky relationship between the Tito Ortiz-managec Cyborg and the company. Cyborg needs Rousey and Rousey might need Cyborg a little more than before if she can’t solve the riddle Holm presents to her.
Luke Irwin: Well it certainly lessens the impact of her as a looming spectre waiting at the gates for Rousey. Who knew the UFC could have someone demolish Ronda to pieces in-house, as it turns out? It’s obvious the UFC didn’t. Let’s look at this from a purely timeline perspective. Ronda’s probably getting a rematch. That’s at least six months away. If Ronda somehow wins, they’re going with a rubber match. That’s another six months. If it’s flukey, there might be a fourth. Then if Holm is the champ, she goes to work on the contenders in the division. If Ronda is the champ, someone will have built themselves up as a true #1 contender in that timeframe. She fights that girl next. So, assuming Ronda has the belt after that fight, we’re looking at a minimum of two years before that fight even starts to get put together. If Holm’s the champ, probably closer to three and a half or four after she goes through the division.
That’s a lot of time to be waiting on the sidelines. Unless they want to bring her in to fight the division, which I doubt she’d accept, because why risk damaging your reputation if you lose or look mortal, she’ll be waiting quite a while. This was a really, really poor outcome for her, because Holm did exactly what we thought Cyborg could do, and she did it for a fraction of the cost and none of the headache or weight/ped/Tito Ortiz issues.
Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?
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