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UFC remains red-hot without Rousey
RONDA Rousey might still be licking her wounds and memorizing her movie scripts, but interest in UFC remains redhot thanks to talented trashtalker Conor McGregor from Ireland and Holly Holm, the UFC’s new women’s bantamweight champion from Albuquerque, N.M.
McGregor, the UFC featherweight champion, will be seeking further domination at welterweight while Holm is out for validation when UFC 196 takes place Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Holm will be defending the belt she won last November by knocking out the previously invincible Rousey in Melbourne, Australia. A former world champion boxer and 100 in MMA, Holm faces challenger Miesha Tate (175), while McGregor (192) takes on Nate Diaz (1910) in a fiveround 170pound welterweight bout, two weight classes above the featherweight title McGregor owns after stopping Jose Aldo in 13 seconds last December at UFC 194.
“There’s a lot of people that play it safe in the game,” McGregor said. “They don’t take the risks. I take risks all the time.”
Tate was supposed to be Rousey’s opponent at UFC 193, but was pushed aside for Holm. After Holm dominated Rousey, stopping her with a vicious headkick, the UFC had planned an immediate rematch. But Rousey said she needed more time to recover physically and emotionally from the defeat as well as fulfill commitments to movie roles. Tate gets her second chance at a title after being defeated by Rousey at UFC 168.
“[Tate has] got a lot of things that present issues for me,” Holm told The Post recently. “She’s good in scrambles. She’s good at submissions. She’s got a wrestling background. She’s very wellrounded and she’s been through a lot of battles. She’s not mentally broken easily. She just keeps coming.”
Rousey remains the 800pound elephant in the Octagon able to keep herself in the news by hosting Saturday Night Live and talking about how she contemplated suicide after her loss to Holm. Once she’s ready to fight again, Rousey is certain to get a title shot, but Holm wants to establish herself as the true champion in the meantime.
“When you’re the champion everyone is gunning for you,” she said. “When the belt is on the line everyone puts their Agame together.”
Brooklyn Olympian Sadam Ali gets a chance to win his first world boxing title Saturday night when he faces Jessie Vargas of Las Vegas for the vacant WBO welterweight championship at the DC Armory in Washington, D.C. The fight will be shown on HBO as part of a doubleheader that also matches Luiz Ortiz (240, 21 KOs) of Cuba and Tony Thompson (406, 27 KOs) of Washington for the WBA interim heavyweight title.
Vargas (261, 9 KOs) is a former junior welterweight champion, while Ali (220, 13 KOs) is looking to claim the belt vacated by Timothy Bradley, who accepted a third bout with Manny Pacquiao. A member of the 2008 U.S. Olympic boxing team, Ali’s pro career had been slow moving until signing with Golden Boy Promotions. He now has his longawaited title shot.
“It’s a big stepping stone fighting for the WBO world title,” Ali said. “It’s the biggest fight of my career and I’m excited about it. Some people they might think I haven’t proved to be on the top elite level. But this is why I’m here. This is why I’m here to prove that. Jessie Vargas is a great fighter. But I am a great fighter. If anybody wants to underestimate me, then that’s fine. I’m just ready to go out there and show why I shouldn’t be underestimated.”