The UFC 184 card scheduled for Las Vegas, Nevada on Feb. 28 has turned into a feature on women’s fighting. The main event of Ronda Rousey vs. Cat Zingano with Rousey’s UFC bantamweight title on the line is the main event, and the main card features a second bantamweight bout between Holly Holm and Raquel Pennington that makes UFC 184 a potentially historic night for women’s MMA.
At the books, only the main event has a line right now, as Rousey is a big (-1250) favorite over Zingano, who returns at (+800). The five round bout has an over/under set at 1.5 rounds, with the under paying (-165) and the over paying at (+135). Zingano is widely considered the best opponent Rousey will face yet, but her skill and talent are not expected to be enough against Rousey.
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As for Holm and Pennington, all eyes will be on Holm and she is expected to be a solid favorite over Pennington when the line hits the books. Holm is a former boxing World Champion, and she is making her UFC debut. Beyond a boxer, where she brings world class credentials the likes of which that MMA has not seen, she is also a phenomenal athlete who is seen as a potential future challenge to Rousey’s dominance.
Pennington will provide a good test, as she is experienced and coming off a good win, however if Holm is able to put on an overwhelming performance, you could see her fast tracked into a fight with Rousey in 2015. For Holm, who is 7-0 in MMA on smaller events, the road to the championship all starts here.
The original main event was scheduled to be a middleweight title fight on the men’s side, but champion Chris Weidman was injured and the fight with Vitor Belfort had to be moved. The Rousey-Zingano match was considered to be a strong co-main event for Weidman-Belfort, and now the ladies will be carrying the burden of selling PPV’s themselves.
