At long last we no
longer have to hear the question “When will Ronda return?” or
“When is Ronda fighting again?” or “Will we ever see Ronda come
back?” Its official the Rowdy One is back she will main event UFC
207. And she will challenge Amanda Nunes for the UFC Women’s
Bantamweight Championship. And of course because it’s the UFC doing
anything people are pissed off. Cyborg is off ranting and Julian Pena
is saying she will leave the UFC. You have a number of people saying
it’s unfair. But here is the thing Rousey should get a title shot.
No Clear Cut
Number 1 Contender- Since UFC
193 the women’s bantamweight title has moved around. Holm lost it
to Tate who than lost to Nunes. Tate
didn’t just lose but she was pretty much dominated by Nunes and
actually lost in the first round while Ronda got to the second. So
given Nunes is still champion its hard to give Tate another shot
given she lost in her first defense. Holm than lost to Valentina
Shevechenko. Shevchenko already has a loss to Nunes and her UFC
record is 1-1. Juliana Pena claims she should be getting a title
shot. Pena is 4-0 in the UFC except
Pena has only beat one fighter that would be considered a contender
that was Cat Zingano. It took her three rounds to get a decision.
Rousey beat Zingano in fourteen seconds. This
is not the welterweight division where a few clear cut challengers
are in position to get a shot.
The Champion
Wants This Fight- There has
been a lot debate about how
much power the champions
should have when it comes to picking there next contender. Recently
the UFC has given the champions a bit more leeway. Nunes
had made it clear she wanted
a fight with Ronda Rousey. Its
A the biggest money fight of her career B the fight that generate the
biggest amount of fame for her and C The
biggest test in the division. Also
often forgotten is the fact
the UFC gave Holly Holm her title shot because Ronda asked to face
her. Most thought Tate would get another shot but Ronda wanted to
face Holm. Much like how it is now there was not a clear cut
contender let the champion have some say.
We Have Forgotten
How Good She Is- For nearly a
year now we have seen the replay of that head kick over and over and
over again. We have spent so
much time hearing about how
she was “exposed” people are ignoring how dominate she was. All
12 of her career wins were finishes. Jose
Aldo only has a 61% Finish rate. Anderson Silva has a 71% rate. Ronda
has 100% all about one of
those was in the first round. And
many of those were less than a minute. Styles
make fights and a strong counter striker with
good kicks able to keep range like Holm was a bad style match up for
Rousey. But Werdum was a bad
match for Fedor, Rampage for Liddell. It
doesn’t mean they weren’t great.
It Will Sell- You
can call it unfair you can hate it but star power matters. New
Year’s Eve weekend is always huge for MMA. So the UFC is going to
want to load that show with a
big main event. Due to various circumstances such as Jon Jones failed
drug test, UFC 205 being the New York City debut there are many big
names out there. And sadly many “fans” start to cry about how
“weak” cards are. Rousey returning in a title fight with the
narrative of her trying to regain the title will be a huge selling
point. Just like how people
defend Bellator putting Kimbo and Shamrock in main events the UFC
should be allowed to book Rousey.
She Can Beat
Nunes- I’ve seen many
including Nunes declare “She can just hit Ronda a few times and
win.” Easier said than done. For one thing Nunes is not a counter
striker with the name level of footwork and range kicks that Holm
uses. She is more likely to throw a little wild and stand in front of
her. Right away that could
open up to Ronda biggest strengthen the clinch and Judo. While Nunes
has a BJJ blackbelt and a brown belt in Judo we have seen Rousey beat
great grapplers a number of times in her career. While many say Ronda
“can’t take a punch” she has eaten some big shots and still
come forward. All I’m saying is Nunes can’t afford to simply
count on a few big punches and shutting her down.
Also
add into fact Rousey will have a full year to improve in areas she
might have lacked in. Tyron Woodley came a similar layoff time wise
to win a world title. By all accounts Rousey has not simply been
laying around she has been training and trying to heal up long
nagging ingures. Its very possible we see a better version of Rousey.
We
won’t know until December if Rousey can regain her world title. And
if you want to try argue someone else should be getting a shot or
that the UFC should have make her
take another fight first. Make no mistake though her getting a title
shot is fair and it’s not some robbery she is getting one.