There is a common misconception that the UFC matchmakers have storylines mapped out in advance.
Some people genuinely believe that they deliberately match their stars up against certain opponents so that a Hollywood-esque narrative can play out.
Dana White, Joe Silva and Sean Shelby have always maintained that’s not the way they conduct business and considering what we’ve seen happen inside the Octagon in the last 12 months or so, it’s obvious they’re telling the truth. Although there have been some notable exceptions.
WATCH: Hype train derails as Sage Northcutt taps quickly to arm triangle… from half guard https://t.co/k0lLCeyQ1G
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) January 31, 2016
A casual MMA fan who glanced at the UFC on Fox 20 fight card before Saturday might have been drawn towards Holly Holm’s name in the main event without even taking note of her opponent, Valentina Shevchenko.
She may no longer have that golden strap wrapped around her waist, but she’ll always spark interest because of that seismic headkick that demolished the Ronda Rousey myth in Melbourne. However, for a lot of people, the first time they saw Shevchenko fight was against the Preacher’s Daughter.
The truth is, outside of the hardcore support who try to consume as much information about the sport and are dedicated to watching as many fights as humanly possible, Shevchenko was a relative unknown going into this fight. As difficult as it may be for purists to accept, not everyone who likes MMA watches UFC events from the bottom of the Fight Pass prelims to the top of the main card. That’s why viewing figures peak towards the tail end of shows.
Since she’s not considered to be one of the “big names” in 135 lb division, you might have assumed she was brought into this fight to play the role of the “jobber”, a sacrificial lamb sent to the slaughter for Holm to eviscerate, allowing her to get back to winning ways in time for the next title shot or, when the cerulean moon rises, to welcome Rousey back to the promotion. However, that’s not why she was selected to fight Holm in a headliner.
Sure Holm’s star status certainly helped this fight secure a top of the bill slot, but when you look at it through a less cynical lens, the fact that it was such a stylistically intriguing bout definitely played a role in its placement on the card.
Looking down through the women’s bantamweight rankings, you’d be hard pressed finding a higher-level pure striking match-up than Holm vs Shevchenko. Holm began her combat sports career as a kickboxer before going on to hold multiple world titles in boxing while Shevchenko is a former Muay Thai and kickboxing world champion with black belts in judo and taekwondo. These are the type of dream fights that spawned the first incarnation of the sport back in the wild west days.
Holly Holm's next fight has been confirmed and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but who cares? https://t.co/4UtSVi5dpf
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) May 8, 2016
I’ve seen the words like ‘upset’ and ‘shock’ thrown around a lot in relation to Shevchenko’s unanimous decision win and that’s not only unfair to the Kyrgystani, but also to Holm. While both fighters prefer keeping it standing, it’s the varied techniques that come from the different disciplines each fighter specialises in that meant this was more than likely going to turn out to be a chess match, and that’s exactly what transpired inside the Octagon.
It became a game of tactics and in the end, Shevchenko’s came out on top. She controlled the range, forcing Holm out of her comfort zone, goading her into overextending which allowed her to tee off with those effective counter combinations and when she needed to, she was able to utilise her judo expertise to take proceedings down to the mat.
Through all of this, Holm was in the fight, trying to win. She admitted in that emotional backstage interview that despite being properly prepared in her fight camp to deal with everything that was going to be thrown at her, she just wasn’t able to make the requisite adjustments to change the course of the fight.
However, in reality, if Holm had been facing a lesser fighter than Shevchenko, who is a life-long, highly-skilled martial artist who stuck to a perfect game plan, she may have found a way back dig deep and claw back a win in the later rounds. Holm wasn’t necessarily that bad on the night, it’s just Shevchenko was that good.
.@JoeRogan interviews @BulletValentina & @HollyHolm after the #UFCChicago main event ⬇️ https://t.co/oqinWog3oI
— UFC (@ufc) July 24, 2016
Here’s hoping that Holm’s heightened competitive spirit, her belief that in order to solidify yourself as the best, you must take out everyone and the bitter taste of defeat in general was what caused her to become so downtrodden after the fight.
Here’s hoping the knowledge that she was bested on the night will give her the drive to get back in the gym (when she’s good and ready) to try to figure out exactly what went wrong while continuing to evolve her overall game to keep up with the evolution of the sport.
Here’s hoping her extreme reaction didn’t occur because she bought into the fallacy that she was going to win this fight because she was the favourite and it fit the narrative for her to be victorious. This is MMA. No one is able to escape defeat in this game. The pound-for-pound greatest fighters in the history of the sport have all lost, but what separates them from everyone else is how they bounced back from defeat. That’s how you build a legacy.
Hang in there Holly, this happens. What’s really important is what happens next.
