Months after her devastating knockout loss, former UFC women’s bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey still casts a huge shadow over the 135-pound division.
On Sunday, UFC presents the first UFC women’s bantamweight title fight without Rousey, as newly minted champion Holly Holm defends against Miesha Tate, a tough-as-nails wrestler who twice came up short against Rousey.
For Holm, the golden-haired champion from New Mexico, this is the most pressure filled fight of her entire career.
The 34-year-old flatlined Rousey with a highlight-reel head kick last November and wasted no time seeking out the next great challenge in her young mixed martial arts career.
Most knowledgeable experts agree Holm is playing with fire by taking another fight before the multi-million dollar Rousey rematch, but the Mike Winkeljohn-trained striker explains she’s not fighting for paydays, she’s fighting to prove she’s “not a one-hit wonder”.
“Trust me, the last fight was one of the best moments of my life,” Holm said, speaking with Yahoo Sports. “But I don’t want to be defined by one fight, I don’t want that to be the whole focus of my life. I have a fight ahead of me, I have the belt, and I want to go in and prove something, I want to stay hungry.”
With a versatile challenger like Tate in her headlights, it won’t be hard for Holm to stay motivated for her maiden title defence. But getting people interested in seeing the fight? Well, that’s a different story.
A quick glance at your favourite digital sporting outlets will yield very few articles on Holm, Tate, and one of the ten biggest fights in the history of women’s prizefighting.
One could argue that’s because Irish featherweight kingpin Conor McGregor is gobbling up the lion’s share of MMA headlines, but the harsh reality is that this is what a Rousey-less world looks like.
We’re on the doorstep of this landmark championship fight, and the two biggest stories involving a female UFC fighter are:
1. Rousey’s PR reps told a Channel Seven reporter that during their interview he was unable to ask the fighter any questions about fighting.
2. The remake of the classic Patrick Swayze flick Roadhouse – which Rousey was set to appear in – is rumoured to be cancelled.
The truth is, Holm lacks the magnetic personality that made Rousey a UFC poster girl and crossover movie star who can draw regular appearances on the late night talk show circuit.
She’s a champion fighter in both boxing and mixed martial arts, but that alone won’t make people buy a ticket or lighten their wallet to purchase a pay-per-view.
In a way, the UFC’s women’s 135-pound class is in a holding pattern until Rousey returns. Sure, there are a bunch of bantamweight bruisers lining up to challenge Holm for the title, but none of the possible combinations are rich pay-per-view blockbusters.
Holm versus Tate is the pick of the litter, and it’s set to take a backseat to a non-title fight between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz at UFC 196 on Sunday – a promotional move the UFC has not pulled in over a decade.
This after UFC boss Dana White even promised that this would never happen again during a 2013 interview.
“You will never see a [different] situation in any fight whether men, women, the lightest weight division there is. If you’re the champion, you’re the headliner. You’re the top of the card,” he bluntly stated.
The reality is, the real die-hard fight fans will be tagging along on Holm’s journey – whether she wins or loses this Sunday – but the masses won’t return to the fold until Rousey speed marches to the Octagon with a mean look on her face.
Alex Wood
Roar Guru
I think Miesha will give Holly more trouble than Ronda did, but ultimately Holm takes home the W. Holm's striking has a hint of something very special about it, a level of technicality we have never seen in Women's MMA with true KO power. If she can replicate the excellence she displayed against Rousey and avoid getting strangled, then you could have something like a female Bas Rutten in the works. i.e. in a division where the technical standard is not high, someone who can consistently and devastatingly knock people dead. If. And it's a big if. But if she can effectively do that, then she could become an absolute superstar. Rousey's legend was built on back-to-back devastating victories and there is no reason, in my mind, why Holm couldn't replicate that.
pjm
Roar Rookie
No one will care about Rousey in a year. Everything she is doing now; movies and photo shoots, were organised while she was champ.
Squidward
Roar Rookie
Who knows. She's in lighter weigh class. But Paige van zant has the looks charm and talent to match ronda Side note. I thought Tate could've beat ronda if she stuck to her round 1 game plan a few years ago
Justin Faux
Expert
You're right, I think it's unfair to compare Holm to Rousey in terms of popularity. I think she is definitely a fan favourite, but I'm not sure how many people are lining up to buy her fights.Perhaps that will change after a second Rousey fight, but right now I'm not convinced. On a side note: Who do you have winning the Holm-Tate fight?
Alex Wood
Roar Guru
I think Holm could etch out a decent following and become a PPV draw with time, but like Rousey did before her she will need to do something particulalry special to earn it. It would need to start with her flattening Tate, and start stringing together some highlight real finishes in the tradition of dominant champtions - no small feat, but she has the ability and the camp. That being said she will never eclipse or even match Rousey.