“That’s why I’m better than all of these girls”, she said. “I don’t go up there just for show”.
Advertisement
Cards as big as UFC 193 attract a lot of attention, which means that they also bring out the sport’s detractors. In their short fight, she had a couple of opportunities to take the Brazilian into her torture chamber office, but she chose to stay on her feet and outstrike the striker. “It is kind of like disappearing in a way”, she added. The event has already sold between 45,000 and 50,000 tickets according to reports, closing in on the UFC record of 55,724 in Toronto at UFC 129. On the ground, Rousey has as much of an advantage as she does over every other woman in the division.
The fight had worn down Reneau in the third round and Holm took advantage, continuing to land with both her punches and kicks on her way to controlling the fight and capturing a unanimous decision victory (30-27, 30-26, 29-28). She submitted Cat Zingano in 14 seconds before that.
“I know I’m going to have to do everything right”, Holm said. “It’s cool, it’s an awesome job, but it’s still a job”. “I’m not just going up there doing as little as possible for the fans”. Rousey is the draw, who she’s fighting is secondary.
“[I’m ready for] the limelight that comes with being champion”, Holm says.
‘I think the last time that I really felt coming in as an underdog was a couple years ago.
After 38 boxing fights, Holm made the move to mixed martial arts and stopped six of her first seven opponents.
“I do believe Joanna Jedrzejczyk is going to own that belt for a long time and it’s for several reasons”, Stann said. From a match perspective, she has an infinitely more interesting and skilled opponent in Holly Holm than the crazy-eyed Bethe Correia. But she doesn’t have the power to give Rousey pause.
If Holm hopes to do the impossible, she needs to make Rousey what just happened and that uncertainty could be huge for the outcome of the fight.
“They [opposition camps] could watch every single one of my trainings leading up to the fight and they could’ve known me since I was four and I’m still going to beat them”.
Considering his length and potential, Stefan Struve always fights with a chip on his shoulder, so if he can maintain his distance and neutralize Jared Rosholt’s takedown attempts, expect “The Skyscraper” to win this bout via TKO.
Advertisement
Rousey, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion, will try to use her boxing skills to fend off an unlikely opponent in Holm. “I want to be the first one”. It was more “too soon” than “about time”, something even Holm noticed especially after the matchup was pushed up to this weekend after initially being scheduled for January in Las Vegas. She has been training for submissions most of her adult life, while Holm is fairly new to that side of the sport. Rousey is at a spot where people will pay to see her win, and a few will also pay to see her lose. Rousey has worn a Monster patch in her last fight and given the UFC’s relationship with the energy drink company it won’t be a big deal to see her wearing a Monster logo in the octagon.
