Chael not sure Holm can even outstrike Ronda
“You’ll hear the expression ‘a puncher’s chance,’ but she’s not very good at punching. Those boxing championships, they’re not real. I’m not sure she could outstrike Ronda.”
Holly Holm is the most decorated boxer in UFC history. She was named the Ring Magazine female Fighter of the Year, twice, and had defended her various prize fighting titles her titles 18 times, in three weight classes.
Ronda Rousey is of course the most famous fighter in the UFC, and comes from an Olympic Judo background. However, in a recent interview on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, retired UFC title contender Chael Sonnen says he is not sure Holm can outstrike Rousey, never mind survive being hip tossed into Bolivian, and armbarred so hard.
Further, Sonnen says unless there is a tournament process, to eliminate all the contenders, as there is in Wrestling, or Soccer, or many other major sports, then it doesn’t count.
“She is making a claim that she is a 17-time world champion,” said Sonnen, as transcribed by Marc Raimondi for MMA Fighting. “I will tell you as an analyst, she has zero world championships. There is no validity to any one of those titles.”
“That never happened in any of those 17 championships. She showed up for some event, the promoter needed a main event, so he called that main event a world title. It’s not a knock on her, but that’s what happened. I’m not gonna sit back as an analyst and call her a world champion, let alone 17 times. If she beats Ronda Rousey, she’s the world champion.”
“Again, she’s got some skills. You’ll hear the expression ‘a puncher’s chance,’ but she’s not very good at punching. Those boxing championships, they’re not real. I’m not sure she could outstrike Ronda. She definitely can’t outgrapple her. I wish her the best.”
“This is a very nice girl. I’ve never met Holly. She has a tremendous reputation. People love her. They don’t just go, ‘Oh, she’s alright.’ They go on and on about what a great teammate she is and what a great person she is. I want to make that clear before I start throwing stones here.”
“In her defense, if she enters into an event and that promoter calls it the world title and puts a belt around her, I think she has the right to put it on her resume.”
Ronda Rousey fights Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 193 on Nov. 15 in Melbourne, Australia at the 75,000 seat Etihad Stadium.