Holm/Rousey

I’m just back from seeing Penn and Teller at the Route 66 Casino, west of Albuquerque and owned, I believe, by the Laguna tribe.  (Indian casinos seem to own most of the new concert venues.)  The concert was great fun, though I was a bit disappointed that I’d recently seen almost all the tricks on P&T’s summer TV series, Fool Us.

I’m heading back up Route 66 tomorrow night, because I’ve got a ticket to watch the Ronda Rousey/Holly Holm fight on HD.  (The actual fight is taking place Sunday morning in Australia.)

I’ve never watched a martial arts event in this fashion before, but then Holly Holm is New Mexico’s darling, and I used to train alongside Holly’s trainer, the champion kickboxer Mike Winkeljohn.

Holly is a 1-20 underdog, but I’d suggest that she’s got a much better chance of victory than that.  True, Rousey is a terrifying martial artist, as this compilation video will attest.  (It ends with her win over Beth Correia last August.  The fight lasted all of 14 seconds.)

Rousey is a pit bull in the ring, pure aggression.  This reflects her judo background, where the contestants shove and yank and generally manhandle each other until one of them makes a mistake, and then the other tries to take instant advantage.  Rousey has no problem thinking on her feet, and her improvisations are lightning-fast.

Holly Holm’s background is in boxing, having held championship belts in light welterweight, junior welterweight, and welterweight divisions before going on to win the welterweight championship as a kickboxer.   Most striking artists tend to spend some time feeling out the opponent first, trying to find a weakness, before moving in to exploit that weakness, and that’s what Holly does— she’s a stalker.  Her footwork is superb, and her kicks are usually unexpected and disorienting.

So the longer the fight lasts— if Holm can use her footwork and striking ability to keep Rousey from shooting— the better the chance for a Holm upset victory.  And of course Holm’s team has been aiming at this fight for a long, long time, and have had a lot of time to plan strategy.  So there may be surprises.

But then again if Rousey’s on form, the whole thing may last less than a minute.  (Fortunately there’s a full undercard.)

I admire the hell out of both these ladies, so in a way I’m happy with whatever the outcome might be, but still I have a connection to the Winkeljohn team, and it would be nice to see another championship belt come to New Mexico.

This will be the biggest UFC event ever.  I think probably the biggest event in women’s sports ever.

And there I will be, with my little pasteboard ticket, ready for whatever surprises the match has in store.