Fightweets: What to make of Holly Holm’s next fight?

The next busy stretch in the mixed martial arts schedule kicks off on Sunday, when Alistair Overeem and Andrei Arlovski tangle in the Netherlands at UFC Fight Night 87.

In the meantime, we actually had a more or less sane week in the sport, with the biggest item of note (aside from an absurd thing that popped up on Friday that barely merits response) being an interesting choice for former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm’s next fight. So we’ll get into that and whatever else is on your mind in the latest edition of Fightweets.

Holly Holm vs. Valentina Shevchenko

@McBroccoli123: Plenty of big names to put her against.  Giving her an easy W to setup Rousey fight in November

So, first things first. Valentina Shevchenko isn’t going to be an easy victory for anyone in the women’s bantamweight division. Ask Sarah Kaufman, who got Shevchenko on nine days’ notice and lost, how “easy” an opponent she was.

When I first heard Holm-Shevchenko was going to be the main event of UFC on FOX 20 in Chicago, my reaction was, essentially, “WTF.” And I think that was the same for a whole lot of other people.

But thinking it through, there are layers to this matchup, some good, some not as good, but it’s not the disaster of a main event it first seemed.

First off, there are only so many names to go around at the top of the 135 class. It’s all about timing and who’s available to fight at any given time. Miesha Tate is defending her title against Amanda Nunes at UFC 200. Cat Zingano is fighting Julianna Pena. Ronda Rousey’s comeback isn’t expected until November at the earliest. Kaufman’s contract is expired. There just aren’t that many fighters in Holly’s class available.

From the UFC’s perspective, there’s also an upside in having Holm, who’s popular with casual fans, fight on FOX, and of having her fight a mere two weeks after UFC 200 with it’s two big fights in the division. Ideally, we’ll come out of July with real clarity on where bantamweight is going. And, who knows? Holm will be in training in the buildup to UFC 200 and we know a whole hell of a lot of big fights have already fallen out this year. If either side needs to drop out of Tate-Nunes, maybe Holm fights at 200 after all.

On the flip side, it’s a bit hard to make sense of why this fight’s good for Holly. She’s fighting a very tough, underrated foe who doesn’t have a ton of name value. Winning at best keeps her at her current level, a loss fairly or unfairly, sets Holm up for a tumble. If …

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