Surprise! Ronda Rousey Is Already A Huge Favorite Over Holly Holm

Ronda Rousey is already a monstrous favorite over her next opponent.

News broke this morning (August 21, 2015) that Rousey would be facing prospect Holly Holm in the main event of January 2, 2016’s UFC 195 pay-per-view (PPV) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It was a surprise booking given that Miesha Tate had supposedly earned the next shot at Rousey by defeating Jessica Eye at UFC on FOX 16, and the early fight numbers from BestFightOdds.com reflect that.

Rousey has been deemed a -1250 favorite by the site’s oddsmakers, meaning that a bettor would have to wager $1250 dollars just to net a return of $100. Betting $100 on Rousey would earn you a grand total of $8.25 in profit. Holm, on the other hand, has been listed as a +825 underdog, meaning that a $100 wager on her, if she were somehow to win miraculously, would bring in a hefty profit of $825. Bovada has Rousey listed as only a -1000 favorite and Holm a +600 underdog.

A longtime female boxing champion, Holm signed with the UFC last year amidst much hype after she steamrolled through all of her opponents on the way to becoming the Legacy FC women’s bantamweight champ. ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ has failed to look similarly impressive in the octagon, however. She won her debut with a close split decision win over TUF veteran Raquel Pennington at February’s UFC 184, then followed it up with a one-sided but all-too-cautious unanimous decision win over Marion Reneau at July’s UFC Fight Night 71.

Many thought that she would need at least two more fights in the UFC before facing Rousey, but the promotion has apparently decided otherwise and booked the fight to cash in on Holm’s appeal as a former boxer.

As for the champ Rousey, she’s dominant as ever after her insane 34-second starching of an overmatched Bethe Correia (the biggest betting underdog in UFC history) in the main event of August 1’s UFC 190. She’s often been linked to a proposed superfight with Invicta FC featherweight champ Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino, but the fight has hit several sticking points based on ‘Cyborg’s’ inability or lack of desire) to cut down to 135 pounds as Rousey’s camp has stipulated.

That meant that she would most likely face off with Tate for a third time,something that UFC president Dana White publicly confirmed, but as we’ve seen time and again, title shots are simply not guaranteed in the UFC.

The odds for both of those prospective fights have been released, however, and Rousey came in as a -325 favorite over ‘Cyborg,’ who currently rates as a +275 underdog. The third fight versus Tate has Rousey as a huge -1100 favorite, with Tate a +775 underdog.