Rousey vs. Holm

This is the official discussion thread for Rousey vs. Holm. Let's see what you've got.

This is perhaps the dumbest post you have ever subjected us too.  Frankie Edgar should fight Chris Weidman, what is he afraid?  Bulk up dude.

That's not the point, mikeyg, they are different weight classes, why should RR move up.  She's the champ, make the dude go down if she wants to fight RR so bad.

She can bloviate all she wants, but the fact of the matter is she is afraid to go down, she knows she'll have to stop the roids and lose muscle mass, since she's a dude.  She has no chance is if she goes down in weight.

If we can actually talk about the fight that this thread is about, can I ask why in the ******* hell are they putting Holm in a title fight?  She hasn't fought a top 10 opponent and they are already forcing her to fight for the belt? What the ****?  Give the title shot to Tate.  At least that fight would be competitive.  Rousey is going to beat Holm up worse than Correia.

I think that's been covered above, HornyGreen, it's obviously a money play and given that Holm has a lot of big time fights on her resume, it's not totally unexpected regardless of the fact that she hasn't really beaten anybody of note in her limited UFC career.

@mikey, Ronda's said a million times that she's not going to fight Cyborg at 145 because she doesn't feel she needs to bend over backwards in order to allow Cyborg to come in juiced to the gills not because she's afraid of her.

If you think Ronda is afraid of Cyborg you clearly don't understand Ronda's personality.

She's willing to fight Gina at 145 because she's a fan and it's a fight she wants for her legacy so she's willing to accept terms she doesn't feel she needs to in Cyborg's case.

She's the champ, she's the one the brings the millions to the fight, I think it's her call to decide when she's willing to accept someone else's terms.

Saying Ronda is scared of Cyborg is as stupid as saying Aldo's scared of Conor even though I could list a ****load of "proof" supporting such a claim. The truth is neither of them are wired that way, both have such confidence in themselves and aren't scared of Conor nor Cyborg even if they are aware of the possibility of losing to them.

Cyborg is a known juicer, Ronda doesn't feel she needs to reward her for it and fight on her terms when Ronda is the one making it the money fight that it is and she's the champ of the division.

This shouldn't surprise anyone after Bethe Correia got a title shot. I mean, at least Zingano beat Tate. 

Anyhoo, Holly Holm won't be able to keep Honda from taking her down.  Fight over, once that happens.

Holm fights a lot taller than a lot of fighters RR has faced (she practically stands straight up), which means her leverage and keeping her hips lower than her opponent is going to be super easy for RR.  Not like she doesn't have preternatural hip placement anyway.  Holm gets thrown in the first 2 minutes of the fight.

* Edited at 08.21.2015, 1:20 PM ET *

On the other hand Holly is a supreme athlete, controls distance perfectly, has great footwork and doesn't over-commit on shots which will make it much harder for Ronda to clinch up with her than her previous opponents.

Holly uses a lot of relatively safe "distance keepers", side kicks, stiff jabs, etc and she'll circle around Ronda's bull-rushes rather than back up until the cage gets her to accept Ronda's clinch.

Ronda doesn't use footwork to cut off the cage, she blasts forword behind jabs until her opponent's "there". I think you'll find that Holly is there less than others were because she'll circle away (like a boxer) and not try and catch Ronda (who's also got a great chin) before Ronda reaches her and it's too late.

My main questions I have going into this fight are 

a) Can Holly survive the shock-factor of the first time you feel Ronda's agression? 
b) For how long can she avoid the clinch (Ronda will eventually clinch, it's impossible to avoid the clinch for 25 minutes)? 
c) How much will she be able to punish / frustrate Ronda before that happens (a-la Esparza/Yumdjeycyck) 
c) How will Ronda react to losing portions of the fight and things not going her way if that does happen
d) Can she get up if / when she is taken down (I feel she can, but it's a hunch)

Just the fact that I have these questions going into a Ronda fight is a good thing, imo (or it just means I'm stupid) since the only questions I have against any other opponent is KO or submission. So as far as I'm concerned, this is a great fight.

* Edited at 08.21.2015, 2:25 PM ET *

I do not care about this fight at all. That said, Ronda most likely tears through her like a screen door.

I just hope it's not on a BLC weekend because I'm picking Holly ... it may be a super longshot, but I need my heavy underdog reward and this is my best chance for it since I joined this site.

Holm will use her kicks to keep RR at bay, RR will catch one of those legs to throw HH off balance and take advantage of that to get in close, throw HH to the ground and either Zingano her or 'can I get an arm bar, amen'.

Keep in mind, I am not a huge RR fan, but I can see the reality of the sitch.

PS:  When this happens, Yossome, I know you have a lot of questions, you will owe me a beer.

* Edited at 08.21.2015, 2:39 PM ET *

lol

I guess Holm is a fresh, new contender, but please. Holm has absolutely zero chance against Rousey. I don't think Holm would beat anyone in the top five honestly. At least Tate might've been able to make a fight out of it.

 Rousey by whatever she wants.

* Edited at 08.21.2015, 3:41 PM ET *

rousey is the best there is no person can beat her

Punchers chance.

Holm at least brings a different style and strategy that can add some intrigue to the matchup.

Holm will probably get trucked in less than a minute like everyone else, but at least she has ways to keep Rousey away from her and a clear path to victory, which is more than every single UFC bantamweight who isn't her can say about her chances against Rousey.

My opinion is this: she could win, but she won't. Incidentally, this is what I said about Weidman's chances against Silva in their first fight, but it seems to be accurate enough this time.