With her surprise win at UFC 193, Holly Holm has usurped Ronda Rousey as the first woman of the UFC. Holm has spent the last 11 days doing the media rounds as the new UFC women’s bantamweight champion. Will she be able to be as big a star as Rousey?
The media blitz has helped with getting to know Holm. Since her stunning second round KO of Rousey, Holm has seemingly been on every media outlet talking about her victory. The UFC jumped on the Holm hype train immediately as she was everywhere after her victory. She made appearances at the Clippers-Warriors game and the Canelo-Cotto fight – two big events where the stars came out to attend and Holm was one of the brightest of them all.
Even a photo opp with Floyd Mayweather, Jr., everyone’s villain, was not questioned (remember his domestic violence issues) due to her newfound status.
In a bit of irony, Holm made an “appearance” on ABC’s “Good Morning America” to talk about her win. Well, it seemed more like b-reel but GMA devoted some time to Holm’s upset. Recall it was Rousey, who was the first UFC fighter to make an appearance on the show that caters to a big female demographic. It was Rousey that appeared on GMA this summer to announce her fight with Holm.
Additionally, Holm has been on ESPN, Fox and everywhere in between. Her most recent newsworthy, mainstream story is a Q&A for the New York Times.
It was just a few months prior Holm appeared nervous and disinterested in being at the “Go Big” press conference in September hyping the company’s cards for the rest of 2016. She was on the stage with a variety of fighters including Rousey and Conor McGregor. Now, Holm may be the second biggest star in the company to only Conor McGregor.
Does Holm’s upset help the UFC with its business? From one perspective, you can argue that the company had invested a lot in Rousey and with her wins and heir of invincibility, she was able to turn the success into a nascent movie career in addition to a number of sponsorship opportunities that most fighters would never obtain. The UFC was able to reach out to many mainstream outlets it never could since it lacked a female athlete with her ability. As a result, the UFC was able to sell PPVs and everything around Rousey was a revenue driver for the company. With her loss, the UFC loses out on the name notoriety and the momentum Rousey had with the fan base. It now has to start over with an unknown commodity.
With Holm, the UFC gets a new face and a new attitude. Holm is much different than Rousey which might appeal to a whole new base of fans that might have been turned off by Rousey. For all of her popularity, Rousey was a polarizing figure to many. For the cynic, give Holm some time and we’ll find something to not like about her too. But, so far, Holm has been a pleasant surprise.
Certainly, Holm will attain her share of sponsors although there might be a certain contingent that might wait until she fights again. Perhaps a rematch with Rousey.
The UFC has built upon the momentum of the UFC 193 upset to promote Holm. In some ways, building Rousey has set the footprint and opened doors for the UFC to pitch mainstream outlets and attract a female demo.
I wonder if a boxing promoter could get her back in the ring being that a champion with her status could probably make more money boxing than in MMA either way she’s in a damn good position to negotiate her way to the best deal she can get.
She should sign with mayweather and haymon….make real money hahaha
can Holm be turned into as big a cashcow like Ronda? Can the UFC use her as they used Ronda to milk as much money as possible out of a sport that without hyped publicity BS would go down the crapper of obscurity?
That’s the real question.
The answer is probably no. If she’s a smart girl she’ll stick to boxing where fighters earn per fight more than any MMA fighter earns in a year.
No, she can’t, she doesn’t have the charisma or the talent.
A boxing promoter???? Haha. Give me one example of a woman in boxing who made anywhere near what Ronda Rousey made for her last few fights. It never happened. Women make more money in mma than boxing.
She’s also in no position to leverage anything. She is under contract with Zuffa, and is a B fighter.
If she signed with Mayweather and Haymon, she’d be fighting for free like Mayweather’s under card fighters do. HAHAHAHA!!
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/boxing/2005-07-19-martin-purse_x.htm
Christy Martin made 1m in ’05 becoming the first woman to ever achieve a million dollar purse. Rousey made probably about 5m for her last fight. Yeah, stick with Haymon. Hahaha.
Yep
http://www.thecelebritiesnetworth.com/2015/11/top-10-richest-female-boxers-of-all-time.html?m=1
Hahahaha. Rousey last two payouts>any female boxer’s career earnings.
Laila Ali NEVER made 1m for a fight in her career.
Mayweather could get her more.
Boxers ALWAYS make more money. Rousey makes like $800k a fight
Rousey makes more money than every male boxer outside of the top 3. Mayweather’s fighters pay to fight and most are on welfare.
D, you know nothing in the sport of boxing and promotions. Keep clowning yourself and acting like you know the business side and come talk to me when you’ve actually been with the pros who make more money in one night than you will in 5 years.
Or in reality, you know nothing about anything in life period. You obsess about your Buffalo Wild Wings and the gossip that goes on there. That is where you get your information from. Me? I read credible resources. You don’t make any money also. You are clearly on welfare. I promise you I make more money than you would ever dream of.
D is bothered….hahaha…holm has leverage….she beat the once ever…i hope they kake more videos of ufc hype train…
Tops is self destructing because of the success of the ppv. He also doesn’t comprehend how contracts work nor is he aware of who sold that fight.
Haymon and mayweather can manage holly….she has the belt…whats dw going to do? rousey the face of the ufc needs the rematch dw needs the rematch to happen…make the most money (holm)
They can manage her all they want, she won’t make any more or less money with the UFC because she is currently under contract. The rematch will go down without those two idiots. TMT also pays their fighters pennies, even if her contract were up, Holly’s smart enough to know she would lose money if she signed up with Floyd. Haha.
They can manage her all they want, she won’t make any more or less money with the UFC because she is currently under contract. The rematch will go down without those two. TMT also pays their fighters pennies, even if her contract were up, Holly’s smart enough to know she would lose money if she signed up with Floyd. Haha.