Ronda Rousey’s Next Opponent: Who Cares?

For many MMA fans, last Friday was definitely not a “Good Morning” in America.

Ha. Wordplay.

I’m sure by now everyone is aware of the big announcement that was made on Good Morning America by the Queen of the UFC (also, the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion) Ronda Rousey. Well, maybe everyone except Miesha Tate. She knows by now, right? I mean, I know there’s a bit of a time difference between New York and the Pacific Coast but c’mon…

The news, of course, was that Ronda has her next fight set. She will defend her UFC Championship on the post-New Year’s Payperview on January 2, and her opponent will be none other than…Holly Holm?

Wait, really?

That was the general reaction to the news, as everyone was expecting Miesha to get the fight. I mean, not only had Miesha been publicly promised the fight on no less than two separate occasions, including her last fight, which was billed as a #1 contender’s match, she’s the only fighter on the roster with a resume deserving of a title shot. Since losing to Ronda at UFC 168, Miesha has defeated 3 ranked bantamweights in Liz Carmouche, Sara McMann, and Jessica Eye. That’s as good as it gets in the relatively shallow women’s 135 division. Most people aren’t overly excited at the prospect of a third Rousey-Tate encounter, but no one can argue that Tate hasn’t earned it.

But, instead of that fight, we’ll be getting Ronda against Holm, a former boxing world champion who is undefeated in the UFC with 2 wins that were somewhat inspiring but didn’t give the impression that she’s ready to take on a fighter the caliber of Ronda Rousey. So, why is this happening? Does it make any sense? Will people pay to see the fight?

I will answer those questions with another question: who cares?

As far as matchmaking goes, it makes little difference who Ronda’s next opponent is. Out of the current UFC Top 10 ranked bantamweight contenders, Ronda has defeated 7 of them. Ronda has completely dominated the weight class to the point that the most logical next matchup for her is against someone she’s already finished twice. If UFC wanted to give her a new opponent, there aren’t many options left. With Jessica Eye out of the conversation for now, due to losing her last fight, the only fighters left are Holm and Amanda Nunes, who scored the biggest win of her career in her last fight by submitting McMann.

The rankings indicate that Nunes should get a title shot before Holm does but I’m sure UFC has their reasons for why Holm is getting the fight. Regardless of who gets the fight, though, will it really make that much of a difference in the end? Holm could use another year to continue her transition from boxer to mixed martial artist and Nunes looks like a much more complete fighter at the moment, but Ronda is probably going to steamroll both of them in time anyway, just like she has everyone else.

I know one area where the opponent won’t matter much: Payperview buys. Ronda has gotten to the point where her name alone guarantees a good amount of business regardless of her opponent, as the overperformance of UFC 190 has shown, so putting her in the main event of the post-New Year’s show in Las Vegas on a card with two title fights (Jedrzejczyk/Gadelha 2 FTW!) should guarantee a good buyrate whether it’s Rousey vs. Holm or Rousey vs. Nunes or Rousey vs. Tate.

It wasn’t casual MMA fans, the ones who make or break every UFC event, who were the ones waking up Friday morning outraged that Miesha got snubbed and worried that Holly isn’t ready. They were the ones who woke up Friday morning and went “Hell yeah, Ronda Rousey! Wooo!” and, in a period where the UFC cares just a little more about the business of MMA than the integrity of it, that’s all that really matters.

Actually, it may be a little easier to sell a Rousey/Holm fight to the fanbase at large than the other two possibilities. Ronda’s last fight against Bethe Correia showed that fans will buy into an undefeated fighter even if her previous level of competition has been a little lacking, so Holm has that going for her. Plus, it’s easy to present her as the most dangerous striker Ronda has faced, since she very well may be. Of course, that won’t make a difference if Ronda dumps her on her back within the first 5 seconds of their fight but it still allows for a little intrigue. Plus, there’s the fact she hasn’t already lost twice to Ronda. Man, Ronda really is desperate for a new challenge, isn’t she?

It doesn’t bother me that Ronda is fighting Holm next and not Miesha or Nunes. I like Ronda and I like watching her win. She’s been so dominant that I’m past the point of caring whether I see her in a competitive fight or not because I know she won’t be. I don’t watch a Ronda Rousey fight to see a war. I watch a Ronda Rousey fight to see a massacre. It’s quite satisfying having a fighter who promises to wreck their opponent every time out and manages to do just that. It’s all credit to the one-of-a-kind talent that Ronda is, as well as how far behind the rest of the weight class is.

Seriously, guys, we all know how Ronda’s fights work by now. I know it and so should you. So order the show or don’t but try not to complain about it too much. It really is a pointless exercise when we all know the end to her fights is a forgone conclusion. It has been since Ronda burst onto the MMA scene and I see no reason to believe that will change any time soon. So start getting your remotes and credit cards ready now.

Evan Zivin has been writing for 411 MMA since May of 2013. Evan loves the sport, and likes to takes a lighthearted look at the world of MMA in his writing…usually.