The reason I think Holly Holm actually has a shot at beating Ronda.

[Takamine86]

I know I'm in the minority on this but hear me out. There are a few reasons I think Holly Holm.

1) Holly is working with Jon Jones. Hate him or love him, Jon Jones is a very smart fighter. He can give Holly some advice on how to deal with Ronda's grappling and control the distance.

2) Holly has footwork. The reason this is important is she will have to be able to avoid letting Ronda close the distance and clinch. When Ronda gets her hips next to yours, your getting tossed. Ronda is a judoka who will use her opponents aggression against them. Charging her doesn't work, it only helps. We have seen what happens if you rush Ronda, you get tossed or submitted.

But if you aren't an aggressive opponent, Ronda will attack you to close the distance. That is where Holly's footwork and boxing come in. Holly will have to stay in the center and avoid the cage wall. If Ronda gets her up against the cage, she will get Holly down easily. If any clinch whatsoever is initiated and Holly is trying to grapple back instead of trying to separate, she will be tossed. But if Holly can keep it in the center of the cage,, control the range and make Ronda chase her, there will be openings when Ronda tries to close the distance. Holly can box Ronda to a decision or possibly KO Ronda when Ronda aggressively tries to close the distance.

 

[Takamine86]

Called it.

 

[Randy BoBandy]

Holly has the tools to win exchanges on the feet w/ Rousey no doubt.

But she lacks the power to put her away, and the grappling to stay standing 25 minutes.

RR by armbar rd 1.

 

[Scottathon]

Well done, sir.

 

[Takamine86]

Holly has the tools to win exchanges on the feet w/ Rousey no doubt.

But she lacks the power to put her away, and the grappling to stay standing 25 minutes.

RR by armbar rd 1.

She doesn't have raw KO power. But she is an accurate puncher. A well timed accurate punch on the button against an aggressive Ronda, you never know.

 

[Tier1 Operator]

But she lacks the power to put her away, and the grappling to stay standing 25 minutes.

RR by armbar rd 1.

Oh, sir. I believe you are wrong.

 

[Great Angus]

This fight will be over in under a round like all the rest. There is no way Holly can evade Ronda the whole fight and she lacks the power in her hands to keep Ronda honest. Ronda will win by some form of armbar and Joe Rogan will have a good cry.

 

[TwoFace]

If holm wins, it will be because of KO head kick.

respect.

 

[BubbaH]

Holly has the tools to win exchanges on the feet w/ Rousey no doubt.

But she lacks the power to put her away, and the grappling to stay standing 25 minutes.

RR by armbar rd 1.

I agree with this. It would be cool to see someone solve the puzzle though. On the other hand, I want to see her fight Cyborg while still undefeated. Otherwise, that fight loses a lot of its meaning.

 

[Takamine86]

Well done, sir.

Thank you sir.

 

[Bowerman]

Ronda is a judoka who will use her opponents aggression against them. Charging her doesn't work, it only helps. We have seen what happens if you rush Ronda, you get tossed or submitted.

This is what happens when Lesnar fights an Olympic Silver Medallist Judoka. Why am I posting this?? No reason. I just like the video

 

[Takamine86]

Holm can KO anyone in the division with her head kicks and I think it's an interesting element for this matchup with Rousey. Seems like kicking at someone who wants to take you down would be a bad idea, but I doubt Rousey has much (if any) real experience blocking head kicks in live action.

Another good call.

 

[Based and White Pilled]

I agree with the first response. Holly can definitely win exchanges, but if she can't make Ronda respect her power she will get clinched. I don't think she can make Ronda respect her power.

 

[LordFarthing]

Called it.

Dude you're the man, holy shit. You were dead on, I wish I could have seen that.

 

[Fight Professor]

I think Ronda will eventually submit Holly. However, Holly should be able to put Ronda into uncomfortable positions standing. Even Carmouche was able to do it to some extent by circling instead of standing straight up and attempting a choke.

It should be a much more interesting fight than most Ronda's fights.

 

[KootenayKid]

Good call, I was in the same boat, bet some v cash on holly.

 

[Clippy]

1) Holly is working with Jon Jones.

Oh good, he can give her some cocaine so she can continue fighting even after Rhonda breaks her arm.

All joking aside should Jones be involved with this or anything while suspended?

Oh, and to stay on topic. Holly still has nothing on Rhonda.

 

[Wooting]

Id give ya props if you werent gloating so much. So, lucky guess breh

 

[ill0giKaL]

Not a chance.

 

[Bowerman]

It would go to a decision if:

Holly utilises solid lateral movement.
Holly utilises a solid jab.
Holly utilises teeps and push kicks over [high/mid] leg kicks.
Holly doesn't plant her feet.

This would force Ronda to:

Mix in feints, cut angles, distance boxing, level changes etc. Something she's never show.

The BUT…


From all of Holly's fight in MMA and Boxing:

She does planet her feet, she does charge in, She does swing wildly [At times], she rarely teeps or push kicks and her lateral movement isn't elite [Maybe for women's boxing it's adequate but it's far from technically proficient].

Ronda will win & she will win with ease UNLESS… Holm has suddenly improved all these area's. If she hasn't Ronda will charge her in a straight line, Holm will plant her feet and swing. Ronda will grab an arm. The fight will end.

Well there ya go. Holly showed basic lateral movement a solid jab and distance control. Basic level stuff in men's MMA. Something I wasn't sure she was capable of.

Proved exactly what I thought though. Ronda is basic fight with Judo and that's it. Basic lateral movement and a fucking jab/teep was all it took to put away that one dimensional hype machine.

 

[ufcfan4]

I don't think she will win but I do think she has a good chance to look better than pretty much everybody who has fought Ronda in the UFC outside of Carmouche. Her style is one that lends itself to longer survival against Ronda. However, I'm not certain how Rousey plays it.

If Ronda surges Holm, she may throws off her game and immediately prompt a firefight that could easily end badly for Holly given the fact that Ronda packs power. Rousey probably wants to attack, close the gap and put Holly on her back. But Holly has showed good movement and very solid tdd.

Ronda is a different animal though. I think she can definitely grab a hold of her and put her on the ground.

 

[Agnawedbone]

Holly is definitely a tougher match up for Ronda than most of her other opponents. She's not flashy so people are underselling her but she brings a solid skill set towards dealing with Ronda's strengths if she sticks to a gameplan.

Taking this and my constant holm support as a win, though i didn't exactly give a prediction.

Also fuck all yall suck a dick dumshits woooooooo

 

[SnitchInsider]

Holm can KO anyone in the division with her head kicks and I think it's an interesting element for this matchup with Rousey. Seems like kicking at someone who wants to take you down would be a bad idea, but I doubt Rousey has much (if any) real experience blocking head kicks in live action.

 

[CPH]

I cant believe there are MMA fans (who watch a lot of mma because theyre on a forum/who finds this by mistake?) who believe Holm has any chance. She has zero chance..period. Its actually laughable. Only 2 people COULD beat Rousey and thats Tate #1 and Cyborg #2....a LONG #2.

LOLOL all the signs were there bud

 

[willthechill]

Waiting for the guy that said Bethe was winning the fight before she got knocked out to chime in. Need a legitimate opinion.

 

[Cat Biscuits]

This is why I love sherdog. Nothing but morons who jump on a bandwagon, because they zero IQ when it comes to seeing how a fight can play out. Rousey fans are by far the worst casual fans out there, please try to learn from this before you think Rousey was ever considered the Mike Tyson of MMA.

 

[Takamine86]

I agree with the first response. Holly can definitely win exchanges, but if she can't make Ronda respect her power she will get clinched. I don't think she can make Ronda respect her power.

Even if Ronda respected her power, Ronda would still be looking for a way to get inside on her opponent and initiate the clinch. Power isn't the key to avoiding Ronda's clinch, footwork is.

 

[Roidiculisp]

Holly has the tools to win exchanges on the feet w/ Rousey no doubt.

But she lacks the power to put her away, and the grappling to stay standing 25 minutes.

RR by armbar rd 1.

Wanted to get a post-fight interview with you as to your prognostications.

Takea look at the forums and let's take a look at your handiwork. Is there anything Holly did in the fight that surprised you?

 

[pseudo genki]

This is what happens when Lesnar fights an Olympic Gold Medallist Judoka.

This is what happens when Lesnar fights an Olympic silver medalist judoka with a MMA record of 2-5 after he retired from Judo due to injuries?

 

[Roidiculisp]

This fight will be over in under a round like all the rest. There is no way Holly can evade Ronda the whole fight and she lacks the power in her hands to keep Ronda honest. Ronda will win by some form of armbar and Joe Rogan will have a good cry.

Or you will...

 

[Bowerman]

It would go to a decision if:

Holly utilises solid lateral movement.
Holly utilises a solid jab.
Holly utilises teeps and push kicks over [high/mid] leg kicks.
Holly doesn't plant her feet.

This would force Ronda to:

Mix in feints, cut angles, distance boxing, level changes etc. Something she's never show.

The BUT…


From all of Holly's fight in MMA and Boxing:

She does planet her feet, she does charge in, She does swing wildly [At times], she rarely teeps or push kicks and her lateral movement isn't elite [Maybe for women's boxing it's adequate but it's far from technically proficient].

Ronda will win & she will win with ease UNLESS… Holm has suddenly improved all these area's. If she hasn't Ronda will charge her in a straight line, Holm will plant her feet and swing. Ronda will grab an arm. The fight will end.

 

[Roidiculisp]

I agree 100%

The Crow. How does it taste, Partridge? You cannibal!

 

[Combatjunkie33]

best chance she has is the force of RRR engaging in a takedown and Holly timing it perfect with a uppercut hook, or head kick an hoping theirs enough power to close the show, other than this split second perfectly timed and placed strike it will end exactly the way they all end, RRR by finish is round 1 or 2

 

[Takamine86]

could not finish Pennington even

Pennington is tough.

 

[ryun253]

If Ronda comes bull rushing in.. Holly better eye poke the shit out of her.

Rondas gonna do what she did the Bethe to Holly.

 

[ALAN PARTRIDGE]

Pennington is tough.

In Hindsight yes

 

[Bowerman]

This is what happens when Lesnar fights an Olympic silver medalist judoka with a MMA record of 2-5 after he retired from Judo due to injuries?

Thank you sir. Silver. No excuses. One dimension never works in MMA in the face of someone with either a stronger one dimension OR a well rounded elite game.

Case in point: [With an 08' gold medallist judoka].

 

[Takamine86]

Is this the same dude that believed Bethe had a chance?

Nope, that was someone else. :icon_chee

 

[NinjaNiK]

While I believe that Ronda will win, I am not counting Holly out. She fights out of a very good camp, and has quality people to work with. Sometimes people do not fulfill their full potential until they have to ..

I expect to see the best version of Holly Holm against Ronda, and I am very curious as to how the actual fight will play out.

 

[...El Ray]

I respect these bump threads.