The last UFC event for 2016 is UFC 207 on December 30th in Las Vegas which will be headlined by the bantamweight bout between current champion Amanda Nunes and former champion Ronda Rousey. This will be the first fight for Rousey since she suffered her first loss last November to Holly Holm. The main event between Nunes and Rousey will be the top draw on a card that also includes Johny Hendricks taking on Neil Magny and Matt Brown vs. Tarec Saffiedine.
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Pressure on Rousey
The pressure on Rousey to win this fight will be immense and it could very well decide her future. UFC president Dana White has put Rousey into this match for a title shot despite her not having fought in more than a year and he is promising that Rousey will fight Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos in 2017 if she wins against Nunes.
"I promise you this, Ronda has to come in and fight Dec. 30. Ronda has to win and the girl that she's fighting is no pushover.” White said, “She's nasty and tough and Ronda's got a fight on her hands there. She wins that fight, her and Cris Cyborg are eventually going to fight. Ronda wants that fight."
Since she lost to Holm last year the bantamweight title has changed hands twice and now it could be Rousey’s again but only if she can defeat Nunes. The matchup against Nunes should be a good one for Rousey as Nunes will be looking to finish the fight quickly. The danger for Rousey is that she gets caught with a big strike and is pounded like she was by Holm. If that happens and Rousey loses it could spell the end of her career. Rousey has Hollywood and the WWE calling so she doesn’t need the UFC. If you believe in “fixed fights” then this would fall into that category for the UFC as they would lose millions in future revenue if Rousey doesn’t defeat Nunes.
There is no question that Rousey doesn’t deserve an immediate title shot as she hasn’t fought in more than a year but this is the UFC and it is all about money so Rousey will fight Nunes for the title. Rousey is listed as a -180 favorite at BookMaker.eu to win the bout with the rounds at 1.5 under -225.
The fight against Nunes could be a tough one for Rousey if it is fought on the up and up. Nunes is a very good striker similar to Holm so there is a danger for Rousey but conversely, Rousey has been able to use an opponent’s aggression against her in the past and win as she did against Cat Zigano.
Rousey vs. Cyborg?
While the bout between Nunes and Rousey will be a headliner, the one between Rousey and Cyborg, if it takes place, would be a mega-fight. White said that it would break all previous pay-per-view records. Cyborg has already gone on record saying that she wants to fight Rousey but that the fight may not happen because Rousey is scared of her.
“Same way you talk to guys, you have to have the balls. She speak a lot of things about me... and why she don't go in (the) octagon with me, fight with me?” Cyborg said, “Man, she don't have (the balls). She don't have. She don't have.”
Other UFC 207 Bouts
Also on the schedule for UFC 207 are fights between Hendricks and Magny, Brown vs. Saffiedine, Mike Pyle vs. Alex Garcia, Tim Means vs. Alex Oliveira and Sabah Homasi vs. Brandon Thatch. Other fights will continue to be added to the card.
Hendricks badly needs a win as he has lost his last two fights. He lost the title in December of 2014 to Robbie Lawler and has dropped three of his past four fights overall, the most recent defeat coming to Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 200.
Magny is coming off a first-round TKO loss to Lorenz Larkin at UFC 202 but he had won three straight bouts before that defeat.
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