Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm Rematch Set For UFC 200 In Las Vegas
It’s official! The Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm rematch has been scheduled!
On Wednesday, December 9, UFC president Dana White told the Los Angeles Times that the rematch will take place on July 9, 2016, in Las Vegas during the UFC 200 event.
Holm’s manager, Lenny Fresquez, said he met with the UFC officials on Monday and received a proposal for the fight. While Fresquez didn’t turn down the idea, he expressed his concerns that Rousey wouldn’t be ready for a fight that soon after being knocked out by Holm on November 14 in Australia.
“I’m not sure Ronda will be ready for a July fight,” Fresquez said. “She took a severe beating and I don’t think it’s in her best interest to take the next fight so fast. They told me she’s been ready and cleared, but ….”
Even though Fresquez has his doubts about Rousey’s ability to fight again so soon, Dana White insists she will be ready.
“Ronda is the fiercest competitor I have ever met in my life and she’s also very proud,” White said. “What made the world love Ronda is that Ronda absolutely 100 [percent] knew she was not going to lose. … People rallied around this powerful female figure.”
“Ronda’s never lost a fight. She will overcome it and be back,” White continued. “She got clipped, stayed in there and tried to fight through it. She told me she was in there, she was rocked, and she’d never been rocked like that before. And the things that were going on in her head – what she was doing – she’d never been in that situation.”
According to the Albuquerque Journal,financial negotiations for the Rousey, Holm rematch are ongoing. Financial terms for the November match were agreed upon when Holly signed with the UFC in July. However, they haven’t finalized the financial terms for the rematch. It is pretty clear, however, that Holm and Fresquez will be seeking a larger payout, as he told the news site her compensation was “not enough” during their first fight. While the purse for the event hasn’t been made public, it is known that Holm received $100,000 in bonus money from the organization for Fight of the Night and Performance of the Night. She also received $30,000 from the UFC’s contract with Reebok.
“They want Holly to wait for Ronda,” Fresquez said. “Anything can happen in the sport, but we haven’t come to terms on the rematch, and until we come to terms we just want to keep plugging away.”
Earlier this week, Rousey opened up to ESPN for the first time about her loss against Holm.
Ronda Rousey will either beat Holly Holm in their rematch or call it a career https://t.co/DPDdZbH6Py #UFC pic.twitter.com/AHgc4UXfry
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 9, 2015
“I’m just really f****** sad,” she said. “I need to come back. I need to beat this chick. Who knows if I’m going to pop my teeth out or break my jaw or rip my lip open. I have to f****** do it.”
“I got hit in that first round… I cut my lip open and knocked a couple of my teeth loose. I was out on my feet from the very beginning,” she continued. “It was like a dumbed-down dreamy version of yourself making decisions… I was just trying to shake myself out of it. I kept saying to myself, ‘You’re OK, keep fighting. You’re OK, keep fighting.’ I just feel so embarrassed. How I fought after that is such an embarrassing representation of myself. I wasn’t even f***** there.”
Are you excited to see the Holm, Rousey rematch? Leave your comments below.
[Photo by Andy Brownbill/Associated Press]
