November 15, 2015 was one of the worst days of Ronda Rousey’s professional life. In front of over 50,000 fans in Australia, and millions more on pay-per-view, she was dominated and beat down. She was knocked out cold with a vicious head kick. It was the biggest upset in MMA history. She had lost to a relatively unknown fighter, Holly Holm. Her undefeated streak was dead in its tracks. After studying Rousey’s defeat, most MMA analysts gave her little chance of winning in a rematch. The loss exposed major holes in Rousey’s game and her future in MMA looked rather bleak.
Since her loss at UFC 193, she had stayed in relatively quiet. There were numerous articles written about her, a couple Instagram pics posted, and a magazine interview conducted, but for the most part she had kept a low profile.
Then, this week, everything changed. News broke that Rousey was going to host Saturday Night Live on January 23. This is a big deal. SNL is often hosted by “A” list celebs when they are promoting movies, tv shows, or album releases. Rousey got the SNL gig without anything major on the horizon. It’s really the kind of exposure no one else in MMA can garner. It remains to be seen if she will be funny or even good on the show, but it’s major exposure on a network tv; a definite win for Rousey.
Photos also surfaced of her from the upcoming Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition. Again, this is another big deal that will create more publicity for the Rousey brand. The photos of her “wearing” a painted on bathing suit were all over the web and trending worldwide. This photo spread will garner lots of “eyeballs.”
In addition, with two major movie roles already booked, Rousey was unlikely to fight again until summer at the earliest. Holly Holm desperately wanted to stay active and kept hounding the UFC brass to defend her championship before summer. UFC President, Dana White had claimed that Rousey would get the immediate rematch with Holm, but on Thursday it seemed plans had changed.
Instead of an immediate Rousey rematch, Holm was booked to defend her newly won Bantamweight Championship against perennial contender Miesha Tate at UFC 197 in March. Tate is a great fighter and should be very competitive with Holm. Rousey is virtually guaranteed a fight with the winner of Holm-Tate. This is great for Rousey because she has mauled Tate twice. A Tate fight would be a much more favorable matchup than Holm. With this announcement, the likelihood of another Rousey Championship reign increased greatly.
As rap great Spose says, this was truly “The Greatest Shit Ever.” Rousey is going to host SNL, be in the SI swimsuit edition and possibly get a title shot, avoiding the only fighter who has been competitive with her.
Could her week get any better?
