Holly Holm may want to fight sooner than a rematch against Ronda Rousey in July, but her wishes rank behind those of the Ultimate Fighting Championship leadership. UFC President Dana White told The Times Wednesday that “it’s Rousey” next for Holm, with a date cleared for July 9 at the new arena in Las Vegas. Holm’s manager, Lenny Fresquez, told The Times Tuesday that he met with UFC officials Monday and received a proposal for that fight, but expressed concerns that Rousey wouldn’t be ready following her second-round knockout loss Nov. 14 in Australia. “I’m not sure Ronda will be ready for a July fight,” Fresquez said. “She took a severe beating and I don’t think it’s in her best interest to take the next fight so fast. They told me she’s been ready and cleared, but … .” <aside class="trb_ar_sponsoredmod" data-adloader-networktype="yieldmo" data-role="delayload_item" data-screen-size="mobile" data-withinviewport-options="bottomOffset=100&topOffset=1000000" data-load-method="trb.vendor.yieldmo.init" data-load-type="method"> </aside>Fresquez said he’d like Holm to defend her belt in the interim against top-ranked contender Miesha Tate. <aside class="trb_embed " data-content-id="84109876" data-content-size="small" data-content-type="story" data-content-slug="la-sports-most-read-stories-this-hour" data-content-subtype="story" data-role="socialshare_item imgsize_ratiosizecontainer " data-state=" "> See the most-read stories in Sports this hour >> </aside>“Holly’s used to staying active,” Fresquez said. “We’re from the old school and we believe the No. 1 contender is there for a reason. … [Tate] deserves a shot, but it’s not for me to decide.” Fresquez did not immediately return messages left him by The Times on Wednesday. “We’re real concerned with his opinion,” White said in a sarcastic tone. White said he’s maintained frequent contact with Rousey since her loss, saying they talk “every day, seven times a day. “I’ve made no secret about it. She’s one of my very close friends,” White said. <aside class="trb_embed " data-content-id="85267241" data-content-size="small" data-content-type="story" data-content-slug="la-sp-sn-ronda-rousey-holly-holm-ufc-espn-miesha-tate-20151208" data-content-subtype="story" data-role="socialshare_item imgsize_ratiosizecontainer " data-state=" "> <figure data-role="imgsize_item" class="trb_embed_imageContainer_figure"></figure> Ronda Rousey says she'll fight again, but Holly Holm may want a bout in the meantime </aside>He expressed no concerns with Rousey’s ability to rebound from the defeat, iced by Holm’s vicious kick to Rousey’s head. “Ronda is the fiercest competitor I have ever met in my life and she’s also very proud,” White said. “What made the world love Ronda is that Ronda absolutely 100% knew she was not going to lose. … People rallied around this powerful female figure. “Ronda’s never lost a fight. She will overcome it and be back. “She got clipped, stayed in there and tried to fight through it. She told me she was in there, she was rocked, and she’d never been rocked like that before. And the things that were going on in her head – what she was doing – she’d never been in that situation.”
Stupid Ass Move on Dana's Behalf, as he's Running the Risk of FOREVER Compromising Rousey's Marketability and Star Power... Ronda Needs a Fucking TUNE UP in Lieu of Going Straight to a RE w/Holm...Let Holly Defend Against Whomever on the Undercard of Rousey vs. Tune Up....THEN Make the Biggest RE in UFC History... Ronda's NOT Mentally Prepared for an IMMEDIATE RE... REED
Yeah strange move. Of course Rhonda is a huge star but Holly could be even bigger, the UFC should really throw their weight behind her.
“We’re real concerned with his opinion,” White said in a sarcastic tone. Dana White comes off like such a contolling piece of shit sometimes. If Holms wants to fight both Meisha Tate AND Rhonda Rousey, why would he stop that from happening? If somehow Tate beats Holms, she's still the woman who beat the shit out of Rousey and a rematch would be easily sellable. He's putting another fighter on the shelf for having the balls to beat up his cash cow.
The UFC knows the Holm\Rousey rematch will be a HUGE fight and don't want to jeopardize anything fucking it up. That's all. TFK
This. White isn't acting like a friend to Rousey, he's acting like a business man who knows that an immediate rematch is a guaranteed huge fight, as big as it can possibly be. If he was acting like a friend to Rousey, he'd let her get her confidence back. If he was acting like a legitimate sanctioning body, he'd let his #1 contender get a title shot because this fight was one-sided and conclusive and therefore doesn't have the justification to let it cut in front of the #1 contender (again). Look at White's dismissal of Holm's manager. White knows he has a monopoly, he knows where the money is, and he knows that he can play the my-way-or-no-way card whenever he wants. He wants to now. This is a great example of why I have such a problem with the UFC model and why I believe it is unfair. However, once again, the UFC is going to do what is best for it and by extension, it will probably please the most amount of fans. Why? Because most fans don't care enough about the fighters to appreciate that the fighter's best interests should trump their own. As far as Holm becoming a bigger star than Rousey--No fucking chance.
If they let rousey heal and get a tuneup fight they can potentially save her from destroying herself. If she loses again like this, she is fucking done. It also does a disservice to Holm, who wants to stay active. It makes no sense for someone in their mid 30s to wait fucking 8 months to fight.
reading rousey's recent interview on espn, it looks like she will most likely retire if she loses the rematch. i would like to see holm vs tate first instead. even if tate wins, rousey vs. holm is still an interesting rematch. i didn't care to see rousey vs tate fight for 3rd time, but if tate can somehow beat holm, then the 3rd fight all of sudden could become interesting. either way, if holm vs rousey 2 goes as planned and rousey wins, they'll probably do a 3rd fight, meaning tate possibly won't get a title shot until 2017 (assuming she holds on to her winning streak that is).
Holm-Rousey II is HUGE Whether Holm has the Bantamweight Title or Not...Holm is THE Chick that Whipped Ronda Rousey's Ass...SINGULAR... Therein Lies her VALUE... Again, if Dana has ANY Interest in MAXIMIZING Rousey's Loooooooooongterm VALUE, he'll Grant Her a Tune-Up as a Co-Main Event w/Holm's 1st Title Defense, Because if Rousey Loses an Immediate RE w/Holm, She's DONE... REED:mj:
They're doing Holm a favor. Just because she has that dyke Ronda's # doesn't mean she's unbeatable. Far from it actually. So just sit back and enjoy life until it's time to kick Ronda's ass for the money of your life.
This isn't a bad prediction. I'm not sure 145 favors Ronda more than Holm, but I can see it being at 145.
I don't think so. This once in ever athlete bullshit can only fly twice with some time to forget in between. People are still so uneducated about MMA that they think a women who is clearly tecnically worse than the men could be something like this, when no one raved like that about GSP, Silva or Jon Jones. It was beyond stupid and only possible because female MMA is kinda new. I mean heck Tate could beat Holm tomorrow and that would really be the complete reality check, that everyone can beat everyone. Something that seems to be general knowledge with the male MMA world now.
