By Lance LeVan
Ultimate Fighting Championship 193 is being held in Melbourne, Australia, on Saturday, Nov. 14. Once again, the women dominate two of the top three spots on the main card. Not to mention that the top two fights are title fights. I can’t wait to watch this entire fight card.
(C) Ronda “Rowdy” Rousey (10-0-0) vs. No. 8 Holly “The Preachers Daughter” Holm (9-0-0)
This is going to be a five-round women’s bantamweight (135 pounds) title fight. This will be Rousey’s third fight of 2015. Her last fight was three months ago. I won’t spend a lot of time telling you about Ronda’s resume as a mixed martial arts fighter. Google it. Over her 12 professional fights, she averages approximately 1.3 minutes per fight. She’s THAT good. Holm is an extremely decorated boxer and former World Boxing Federation women’s champion in two weight classes. Not to mention she is 9-0 in her MMA career. Of all the female fighters who Ronda has fought, I think Holly has the most impressive resume. However, I think that it is too early in her UFC career for Holm to fight someone of Rousey’s caliber. If this was a boxing match, then yes, I think Holm could possibly win. But MMA is different. Maybe in another year or two, she could be a contender. My prediction: Rousey wins via submission in the first round.
(C) Joanna Jedrzejczyk (17-3-0) vs. No. 9 Valerie “Trouble” Letourneau (8-3-0)
This is going to be a five-round women’s strawweight (115 pounds) fight. This is the second women’s title fight of the night. Joanna just took the title in March. She is a Muay Thai and kickboxing champion. Valerie is a purple belt in BJJ and is a very scrappy fighter, but doesn’t have much in the way of a pedigree in any specific form of fighting. On paper, both of these fighters look very similar. Letourneau has a slightly higher KO/TKO percentage. Jedrzejczyk has had more of her fights go to a decision. Neither of these fighters has ever been to the “championship” rounds (rounds 4 and 5). It will be interesting to see what happens when or if it goes that far. My prediction: Jedrzejczyk wins via TKO in the third round.
No. 8 Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt (10-9-1) vs. No. 11 Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (19-7-0, 1NC)
This is a three-round heavyweight (265 pounds) fight. These two fighters met in the Octagon in December 2013. I saw this fight and I have to admit, that was the best heavyweight MMA fight I have ever seen. The fight ended in a draw, but it won “Fight of the Night” honors and the UFC gave both fighters their winning bonuses. I am hoping that this will be a continuation of that fight. It was not very technical and it did not go to the mat, but both guys stood and threw punches and kicks for the entire fight. I suspect that both fighters will have similar game plans for this one. I think they are going to want to stand and trade shots. Both of them hit incredibly hard, have iron jaws, and have incredible will power/heart. Neither will quit nor go down easily. I can see this fight winning “Fight of the Night” honors again. My prediction: Hunt wins by split decision.
