Ronda Rousey vs Holly Holm UFC 193: Champion finally has a worthy opponent in front of 70,000, writes Dan Hardy

EXCLUSIVE COLUMN: This week, British UFC welterweight and UFC commentator, Dan Hardy, looks ahead to the UFC’s record breaking event in Melbourne Australia, where two women’s bouts top the bill and the seemingly unstoppable ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey faces one of her toughest challenges to date

(Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC )

I find myself feeling very fortunate that I am around to witness the rapid growth that the UFC is currently experiencing. It seems that the organisation is always breaking new ground and setting new records, and this weekend is a special case in point.

For the first time in the organisation’s history, 70,000 fans will be in attendance to witness UFC 193 live in Melbourne, Australia. It will be the UFC’s first visit to Melbourne after they recently changed the laws in the state of Victoria around the use of a ‘caged arena’, helping to put to bed those old misconceptions about the sport and the Octagon.

This was a decision that didn’t come a day too soon. As all of us involved in the sport know, the use of the walled Octagon is for the benefit of the fighters to protect them from falling, or being thrown, out. So it is an uneducated perspective to take issue with the ‘cage’. But thankfully that has now been put to bed in Melbourne, and in celebration the UFC are putting on quite the spectacle. In typical style, they’ve pulled out all of the stops and put a card together befitting of this pioneering event.


 Holly Holm (right) has made an impressive move from boxing to MMA 
 (Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)


 Ronda Rousey faces what should be her toughest opponent 
 (Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC)

Not only is the card absolutely stacked with Aussie talent old and new, but the two headlining bouts set this card apart from all others that have gone before it. In another first for the sport, the main event and the co-main will see the UFC’s two popular female champions – the seemingly unstoppable ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey, and Polish strawweight queen Joanna Jedrzejczyk – defending their titles in back-to-back bouts. So we have an all-female headliner and co-main event, on the first ever show in Melbourne, in front of the biggest live audience ever to attend a UFC event… it’s going to be a special night.

But it would all be impossible without a solid match-up for each champion. Muay Thai wrecking machine, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, will be looking to fend off the second challenger to her belt, as Montreal’s Valerie Letourneau steps up to the challenge. Coming into the UFC at bantamweight, Letourneau won her debut in a gritty toe-to-toe war and then dropped 20 pounds to take a run at the strawweight belt. Since then she has won two more fights, most recently out-classing highly touted, Maryna Moroz.

With a height and reach advantage and the strength of the American Top Team behind her, Letourneau will want to close Joanna down and force her into a boxing match. Although the champion will probably have the speed advantage, her real key to victory would be to fight at range and utilize her full Thai boxing ability. It wouldn’t surprise me if Valerie attempts to take the fight to the ground, where I would give her a slight technical advantage. The reality though, is that both fighters’ takedown defence is better than their offense and they therefore may end up nullifying each other, forcing a kickboxing exchange.


 Joanna Jedrzejczyk faces Valerie Letourneau in another exceptional female contest 
 (Ronald Martinez/Zuffa LLC)

Just as Jedrzejczyk crossed over from a successful Muay Thai career and went on an unbeaten run to UFC gold, the challenger in the main event is well on her way to achieving a similar thing. The most decorated professional boxer ever to cross over to MMA, Holly Holm currently stands unbeaten in nine fights.

Also known as ‘The Preachers Daughter’, Holm has been a sensation in the boxing world for a number of years. Her transition to MMA seemed inevitable with her training at the Jackson-Winklejohn academy in New Mexico, alongside greats like Jon Jones. Originally a kickboxer, she has looked very much at home in the Octagon in her victories over Racquel Pennington and Marion Reneau. There is no underselling the massive leap in competition between her previous opposition and the current champion, though.

Rousey has been nothing but sensational in every outing so far. Her aggression, fluid Judo skills and ever improving striking has been far too much for every contender so far. The difference in this fight is that Holm has been Ronda’s equivalent in boxing, being a 19-time world champion.

Where Ronda is fast-paced, Holm is patient. Where Ronda is an Olympic level Judoka, Holm is one of the best female strikers in the world. Where Ronda likes to close distance, stand square and trade wild punches, Holm likes to maintain the range, stand side-on and use sharp and accurate strikes.

They are polar opposites of each other and never before have we seen Rousey face such a feared and experienced striker. It’s hard to bet against Rousey, but don’t sleep on Holm. She is coming in with a lot of potential to cause a real upset and derail the ‘Rowdy’ train.

Tune in to BT Sport 1 from 1am on Sunday morning to see if she manages it…