With Rousey vs. Holm coming sooner than expected, there's good news and bad news

Ronda Rousey

The more I think about it, the more it seems like the UFC’s decision to move Ronda Rousey’s next title defense up a few months is kind of a good news/bad news situation.

Bad news because, with a challenger like Holly Holm, who critics said needed more time before taking on the champ, this gives her the exact opposite.

Good news because, since most of us are in agreement that there are few real challenges left for Rousey (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in the current women’s bantamweight division, at least this way we can go ahead and get it over with.

Still, put yourself in the shoes of Team Holm for a second. According to her longtime manager and former promoter, Lenny Fresquez, they weren’t even sure they wanted Holm (9-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) in a title fight this soon.

“I asked them for one more fight, and they said ‘No, this is the fight we would like you to take,’” Fresquez told Sherdog recently. “We’re under contract, and they’re our bosses.”

If there’s a less enthusiastic way to accept a UFC title shot, I haven’t heard it. And if the Holm camp wasn’t thrilled about fighting Rousey when the bout was originally offered for UFC 195 in January, it stands to reason they’d be even less excited to see it moved up to UFC 193 in November.

That means a little over two months to prepare for her make-or-break shot at the UFC women’s bantamweight title, which also means a little over two months to make sure her anti-judo and armbar defense are up to par. That’s not a lot of time, especially for a fighter who seemed like she needed time most of all in order to be a real threat to Rousey.

Holly Holm

That’s the part that makes you wonder about this instance of what might accurately be described as convenience matchmaking.

With the injury to UFC welterweight champ Robbie Lawler, who was originally scheduled to headline UFC 193 opposite Carlos Condit in Melbourne, the UFC found itself with an entire Australian stadium to fill and no one on the card with enough drawing power to even come close (no offense, Mark Hunt). So it turned to Rousey, who is equal parts workhorse and superstar these days, doing whatever the UFC requires while also giving it far better viewership numbers than it has any right to expect, given the caliber of her recent competition.

And the thing is, that seems like a problem Holm could help solve, at least under the right circumstances. It’s just that rushing her into a fight with Rousey before she’s ready is pretty much the exact opposite of those circumstances.

When you look at it from that angle, it seems like a waste. A potentially valuable contender, spoiled by the need to put butts in seats. Then again, there’s a reason Holm’s manager felt like he could back away from rather than rush toward a UFC title shot, and it has a lot to do with the current state of the women’s bantamweight division, which isn’t exactly overflowing with fresh contenders.

If you’re looking for fighters who wouldn’t be colossal underdogs against Rousey right now, you’d better look outside the women’s 135-pound class. You’d better look, in fact, to Cristiane Justino, since no matter what weight she’s walking around at, “Cyborg” remains the closest thing to a real threat that this sport has to offer Rousey right now.

That’s the problem with just about any fight you could make for Rousey at the moment. They all feel like pit stops, like passing distractions on the road to “Cyborg.” Of course, that’s also the best argument for going ahead and finding out what Holm has to offer now, especially if it speeds us along the path to the fight we really want to see.

Not to mention, at the rate Rousey’s going, Holm isn’t the only one with the potential to be a better fighter next year than she is in November. Particularly for those looking to attack Rousey on the feet, a little more time could end up being just as much curse as blessing.

For more on UFC 193, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.