UFC 193 will be the first time two women’s title fights headline a UFC event. In the co-main, Women’s Strawweight Champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will defend her title against Canadian kickboxer Valerie Letourneau.
Ronda Rousey, named the world’s most dominant athlete by Sports Illustrated earlier this year, is undefeated in her mixed martial arts career with a record of 12-0 since she began her professional MMA career in 2011.
Before training MMA, she competed in the Olympics in judo and became the first woman from the U.S. to medal in that sport, winning a bronze in 2008.
She is known for her strong ground game, owing to her extensive judo background. Eleven of her twelve victories came in the first round. Nine of her wins came by submission due to armbar, her signature move.
The armbar is a technique in which the fighter tries to hyper-extend the opponent’s elbow until they submit or risk dislocating or even breaking it. Ronda has dislocated two of her opponent’s elbows during her MMA fights.
“It kind of feels like tearing apart a turkey with a crotch,” she told Middle Easy.
Adorable.
As good as her ground game is, her striking has shown improvement each time she fights. Three of her four last fights were won in the stand-up via knockout, all in the first round.
Rousey’s last fight vs. Bethe Correia can be seen below. The fight starts at 3:20.
After seeing her aggressive, seemingly reckless style of fighting, one is led to believe she has no fear.
“No, that’s not true,” she told Esquire. “I’m scared all the time. You have to have fear in order to have courage. I’m a courageous person because I’m a scared person.”
In the lead up to previous fights, Rousey’s verbal assaults on opponents she genuinely did not like made headlines. But for Holm, she has only good things to say. “She is a sweet girl. She’s nice,” said Rousey.
But that took a sudden change during the weigh-ins Friday. During the face-off, Ronda and Holly got too close to each other and started shoving. Dana White, UFC Promoter, had to step in and seperate them.
“She’s the one that put the fist on my face, I didn’t touch her,” Ronda told Joe Rogan immediately afterwards. “That fake sweet act — I see right through it now,” she said as though it was a shocking revelation.
Holly Holm, also known by her nickname “The Preacher’s Daughter,” is a former boxer and kickboxer with 16 title defenses in three weight classes. Since beginning her MMA career, she has nine wins and no defeats.
Striking is her greatest weapon. Her ability on the ground remains untested as she has stopped 100 percent of her opponent’s attempts to take her down to the mat. Whether her takedown defense is good enough to stop Rousey remains to be seen.
Holm trains at Greg Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico, home of many top fighters including former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones. Jackson’s camp is world-renowned for putting together effective gameplans and their fighters’ abilities to stop takedowns, says Inside the Octagon.
Will the Jackson’s camp be able to crack the Ronda riddle and find a way to beat her? It’s an intriguing question that will be answered Saturday night.
In the co-main event, Poland’s Joanna Jedrzejczyk (pronounced Yed-zhey-chik) will attempt her second defense of the UFC Women’s Strawweight title against Canadian kickboxer, Valerie Letourneau.
The skilled, veteran striker has fought almost a hundred Muay Thai fights and is undefeated in MMA with a record of nine wins, no defeats.
It wasn’t long ago that Joanna fought in front of crowds of just a few hundred people. “Two years ago I fought in Warsaw, Poland in a shopping mall,” she recently told the media. Now, she will be fighting in a stadium in front of 70,000. “It great. It’s going to be one of my best fights and moments for me in my fighting career.”
Valerie Letourneau is coming in as a huge underdog at more than 17 to 1, according to Fox Sports. However, Valerie is a skilled striker as well. She can score a big upset if she can find a way to land a solid, powerful strike on Joanna.
Also on the card is a heavyweight rematch between fan favorite Mark “Super Samoan” Hunt and Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. Their first bout was a five round bloody brawl that pleased fans but ended in a draw. There are no title implications here; this one is purely for entertainment.
The main card will begin at 10 p.m. EST Saturday, November 14 (2 p.m. Sunday in Melbourne) on PPV.
