Last Saturday night at UFC 196, two champions rolled the dice and lost. According to UFC President Dana White, one of them is fit for praise, the other for criticism.
For one person to reach contradictory conclusions on similar topics isn't unusual; just a few minutes of any current presidential debate will yield any number of them. However, White's condemnation of Holm's decision amid his admiration for McGregor is far off the mark.
First, the particulars. On a Tuesday edition of ESPN's Russillo & Kanell, White called McGregor's move to face Nate Diaz in a non-title bout "so much fun," praising his willingness to gamble by fighting up two weight divisions in a bout he lost by second-round submission.
Literally seconds earlier, he had soberly discussed Holm's failed bantamweight title defense against Miesha Tate. As transcribed by ESPN.com's Brett Okamoto, White said:
The sad part about that whole thing is, listen, [Holm manager Lenny Fresquez is] an old boxing guy who thinks he’s smart, and he is not. It’s one of those things. I feel bad about it. I feel bad for Holly because I don’t know if Holly really knows what she lost. I think she has so much faith in the people that surround her, she feels like, ‘Well, they got me here.’
We had this meeting, and Holly wasn’t even in it. Holly, that’s your life. You should be in that meeting. Don’t leave it to these people. Anyway, listen, Holly made a lot of money. She accomplished great things, she beat Ronda Rousey. But it could have been so much bigger for her, and the sad part is, I don’t even think she knows it.
These are completely contrary viewpoints on very similar situations, but a closer inspection shows a few key differences that are magnified given the source of criticism.
In the case of McGregor, he had been scheduled to fight lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos. For McGregor, who just captured the undisputed featherweight crown in December, the bout was seen as a risk, but a calculated one. If he emerged the victor, he would be the first man ever to concurrently hold two UFC belts. If he lost, he could take credit for attempting to make history but return to his division with his reputation mostly intact.
Instead, Dos Anjos fell injured. McGregor, who has always been willing to step up on short notice, never seriously considered withdrawing from the event even though his quest for history was over.
If there was ever a moment the UFC should step in to protect the image of a belt-holder, this would have been it. This wasn't a champion defending on short notice; this was a champ going out of his way for the sake of an event. But the UFC didn't do that, because they had a show to sell and McGregor was the one selling the tickets.
As a pure business decision, it is understandable, perhaps even defensible. The show must go on, after all. But if White was so quick to talk about money left on the table for Holm—more on that later—how can he dismiss the money the UFC left on the table here?
If they had sidelined McGregor, they could have moved forward with the Dos Anjos fight when he was healthy or moved straight to McGregor vs. Robbie Lawler at UFC 200 in July. Instead, McGregor will return to a division where his interest was already waning and where he does not feel at his healthiest.
Let's remember, in December, only moments after McGregor won the featherweight belt, his coach John Kavanagh told White in the cage that McGregor would never fight at 145 pounds again, according to MMA Junkie's Mike Bohn.
That plan held straight through to last weekend. Only a day before the fight, as MMA Fighting reported, White noted again that McGregor would probably never again fight at 145 pounds.
So in the end, McGregor risked his shot at both Dos Anjos and Lawler for little reward. Sure, he got a huge paycheck, but that was coming against whichever opponent he faced. The UFC was fine with the Diaz match mostly because it plugged a main event hole. That has always been the UFC's first concern.
If Holm had done the same thing, White would have praised her just the same.
In reality, Holm's gamble was far more reasonable. For one thing, there was never a concrete timeline for the UFC's preferred option—an immediate rematch with Ronda Rousey. For a short time, a July 2016 date seemed like a good landing spot, but that date quickly fell by the wayside.
As Holm weighed her future, she had to consider the news that Rousey would go forward with a break from MMA and commitments to major roles in films Road House and Mile 22. With that in mind, Holm was well within reason to weigh her options.
Soon after, a November Rousey return became the rumor du jour. For Holm, that was a significant consideration, as November would mark a year between fights.
At 34 years old, a year of activity cannot be seen as a positive. On top of that, she would have to be willing to assume Rousey (or the UFC) would not change the timeline again, and that both of them could get through a healthy camp and show up on fight night. In effect, she would be taking a passive role in her own career—a wait-and-hope-for-the-best approach.
With those complicated factors rattling around her head, it's no surprise she took the sure payday—a guaranteed $500,000 purse, according to figures the Nevada Athletic Commission sent Bleacher Report, as well as a pay-per-view bonus that will take her total pay well into seven figures—and rolled the dice. She took it knowing full well that even if she lost, the UFC will eventually see a rematch with her and Rousey as a viable direction.
The relatively shallow pool of top-level talent in the women's bantamweight division virtually ensures Holm and Rousey will meet again. So at worst, Holm risked her title knowing she will probably have another shot at Rousey if Rousey comes back and beats Tate for the third time. In short, she has a realistic chance of getting back to where she would have been in the first place.
McGregor can't say the same. While he still wields sizable power within the organization due to his popularity and drawing ability, he has lost a bit of aura, and he has no clear path back to chasing multiple titles as he planned. And really, he risked it all for a single paycheck.
With all those zeroes, that's no small thing, but if he wasn't doing the UFC a huge favor in the process, do you really think White would be so pragmatic about it? Most likely not. Most likely, he would be the subject of the same criticism Holm and her team faced.
Holm made a simple decision: She put her career wants before the company needs. At a time when fighter's rights are eroding, her decision is personal and meaningful, and, most importantly, it's justified.
