No rest for the weary MMA fans! After putting on five events in July, UFC is rolling in a new month with another Pay-Per-View. This one is somewhat of an oddity, for several reasons. First, it’s the only UFC PPV to feature seven bouts on the main card. The reason for deviating from the usual five fights on a PPV card are the two ‘TUF: Brazil’ finale fights, originally slated to take place at UFC Fight Night 70. Besides the TUF bouts, this card features an interesting mix of the ‘old school’ nostalgia-type bouts, and the ‘new school’ WMMA. I normally don’t valuate women’s bouts highly, however this will be the first time they are valuated on par (or higher) with the men’s fights on the same card. This is partially caused by WMMA starting to grow on me as the UFC develops the women’s bantamweight and strawweight divisions. Even though they are still very shallow and good matchups are hard to find, here we have two bouts that I consider interesting and relevant.
The flip side of the coin are the nostalgic matchups. Despite an occasional exception, combat sports are no place for old men… or young men who absorbed so much damage over their fighting career that it makes me cringe watching them receive yet another traumatic brain injury. There are a handful of such fighters on this card, and some of them are even fighting each other. It comes to a point where watching these guys get their block knocked off is no longer enjoyable, and so a few of the fights on this card will receive a much lower valuation than you might expect. I suppose this is a bit hypocritical of me to say as an MMA fan, especially as one who prefers finishes to decisions – perhaps I should just shut up and watch the fights, accepting TBIs to be the inevitable reality of a sport where people punch and kick each other in the head. However, I am paying to watch these fights and here I am writing about it, and of course this is all based strictly on my personal, subjective opinion. As always, your mileage may vary.
Main Event: (C) [#1 W135] Ronda Rousey vs [#13 W135] Bethe Correia for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship
Worth: $15
Why: The majority of the MMA world has already written off Bethe Correia as a legitimate challenger, looking past this fight to the inevitability of Rousey – Tate 3. Ronda Rousey is anywhere between 10-1 and 15-1 betting favorite, and I don’t see Correia pulling off the huge upset here. However, I think Bethe will last longer in the Octagon with Rousey than Ronda’s last three opponents combined. I expect that Correia will come into to the fight with some semblance of strategy besides rushing Rousey at the opening bell trying to land a hail-mary. Hopefully we will get to see Rousey showcase her cardio, striking, and perseverance – not another arm handed to her on a silver platter.