As a businessman, Dana White is taking a big business risk.
On the eve of UFC 196, featuring the co-main event of champion Holly Holm making her first women's bantamweight title defense against Miesha Tate, the UFC president still is lamenting the shattered aura of invincibility of former champion Ronda Rousey.
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Rather than promote the present and future of the women's division with Holm, Tate and the women that are, you know, currently fighting, White continues to hitch his wagon to a woman show has shown lukewarm interest in a rematch with Holm.
"That women is so competitive, and truly believed that she would never lose, and that's what we all loved about Ronda Rousey," White told The Jim Rome Show, via MMA Junkie. "That's what got everybody so into women's MMA and behind her, and then, when she lost, I mean, she went into a depression like I've never seen before.
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"This is a person that I'm very close to and know very well, and yeah, it was tough to see her go through that, but she's 100-percent bounced back, recovered and is getting ready to come back in either October or November."
In fact, White has assessed Rousey's shortcomings in her first fight with Holm and knows how the former champion can recapture her belt.
"I think we're going to see a more calculated Ronda. Ronda got to the point where she would fight anybody at their own style," White said. "You don't want to run into somebody else's attributes. You want to shake things up for them and make them come into your wheelhouse, where you're the best, and Ronda just went out there that night with the wrong plan.
"Then even when stuff started to go bad, she didn't change things up, and she didn't mix it up. You won't see that again, I guarantee you. She's going to be much smarter in her next fight and how many fights she fights after that."
Given the opportunity to talk up his new champion, the down-to-earth Holm, this is the best Dana White could come up with:
"I'll tell you this, to be brutally honest with you, as a fan, I love her attitude and I love that. As the business side, I absolutely hate it," White told Rome. "Holly vs. Ronda is the biggest fight in UFC history, without a doubt. I think this thing does close to two million buys, and she's going in Saturday night against Miesha Tate, who A., is hungry and wants that belt so bad, and B., stylistically matches up very well to give her a tough night. So it's going to be interesting."
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