In light of the news breaking headlines across the MMA sphere this morning that UFC superstar Ronda Rousey would not be facing Miesha Tate, but instead undefeated MMA prospect and former World Boxing Champ Holly Holm, I was left with the not so subtle impression that the UFC isn’t in the business of building up contenders when they have a green money machine to feed.
The story first broke this morning on Good Morning America as it was announced by none other than the Queen herself, that she would be facing Holly Holm come January 2nd for the women’s UFC bantamweight title.
She stated; " January 2 I’ll be fighting Holly Holm, who’s the most decorated striker we have in all of mixed martial arts. Not the women’s division, not the bantamweight division. [Holm]’s a 19-time boxing champion, Holly Holm was The Ring magazine pound-for-pound Fighter of the Year, and definitely my biggest challenge to date."
While Holm’s is undefeated with a 9-0 record in MMA, and a 33-2-3 record in boxing, many would agree that she has yet to face top competition in her short MMA/UFC run. If I were to ask you to give me a list of things that make up a number one contender, I’m going to assume they would consist of these; dominant performances, a stable winning streak, and being unquestionably more deserving than any other contender in their weight class. With these criteria alone, is is quite apparent that Holly Holm should not be vying for a title anytime soon. The frustrating part is that I actually want to see Holly Holm face Ronda Rousey, just not at the present moment. She is undoubtedly a world class striker and athlete, but has yet to refine her MMA skills making her fit to face top competition.
If MMA is to ever be taken seriously as a sport, the powers that be must be able to adhere to an official rankings system that pits only top competition against one another. I personally, would have liked to see Holly Holm be able to refine her skills and be built up gradually through the ranks so that an eventual match with Ronda Rousey would actually entertain the thoughts of true combat sports fans and hardcores alike. I guess with the cross over star power Rousey radiates, and potential future loss for Holly Holm should they wait, they decided to strike while the iron is hot. They have undoubtedly invested a lot in their golden girl Rousey and have not been so shy in flaunting it. By feeding Rousey greenhorn after greenhorn, as they did with Bethe, and McMann, the UFC seems to not care about building any future potential opponents for the bantamweight juggernaut, but instead keeping her atop the division as long as possible with no real challengers in sight, other then Cyborg, the name that Rousey and Dana White seem to dismiss fight after fight.
Holly Holms has been a contender Iv’e been following for years now, watching her slowly creep up the ranks of the female bantamweights in MMA. She has looked very impressive at times against lesser competition, but has still yet to awe anyone with her 2 decision victories in the UFC. We can all agree that her striking is lightyears ahead of Rousey’s, but on the inverse can argue that Rousey’s grappling is lightyears ahead of hers. Those two factors are what intrigues me so much about this matchup, should they have waited a year or two to let Holly develop better, or should I say "sufficient" grappling.
As much as I admire, respect, and glorify Ronda Rousey, I must stick to true objectivity and call a spade a spade when I see it. Luke Thomas has beat on this point time and time again, that true champions want to challenge themselves no matter the costs or repercussions, and by Rousey choosing to pick off inexperienced greenhorns, with the full consent of her UFC masters, it leaves me wondering if she really is this " Chuck Liddell esq. " fighter Dana claims her to be. It leaves me with even more questions for UFC brass as to their true intentions in keeping this sport honorable with integrity. These last few years it seems as if the UFC is a far cry from an organization once priding itself in making only the best fights and match ups there is. With potential, more deserving match ups like Nunes, and Tate in the wings, who are both on nice streaks having beat top competition, I believe this upcoming title defense will show me but ONE thing, and that is how to kill a contender.
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