Losing Streaks on the Line in Singapore
The wins were much needed at UFC Fight Night 111 as two fighters stepped into the octagon on losing streaks that had them in danger of no longer being a UFC fighter.
Both Holly Holm and Andrei Arlovski were entering their fights in need of wins and the UFC knew this better than anyone.
There is little that the UFC does where they truly don’t know what’s going on, despite a strange period when the new owners were trying to figure things out.
They set up fights with the future in mind and they sometimes have a clear plan if only the fighters can meet their expectations.
That is what UFC Fight Night 111 was as the UFC put the fight on Fight Pass and headed to Singapore.
Holly Holm was the main event while Arlovski was the co-main event with plenty of reasons for both to be on the card.
They both still had a big name so their name recognition was hoped to get people in Singapore to come out and watch the big names.
It also took the pressure off of both fighters as it was a Fight Pass card where the viewership is not nearly as big as pay per views or regular Fight Night cards.
Not only that but both Arlovski and Holm received fights against fighters that were truly a step down from what they had faced before.
Marcin Tybura was riding a two-fight win streak but against fighters that nobody really knows and that are not a part of the top fighters in the division.
Arlovski was riding a four-fight losing streak into the fight but all were against the best fighters in the division.
It really wasn’t a matchup that was going to produce a championship contender and although the UFC would never admit it, this matchup was essentially created for Arlovski to win.
That wasn’t quite the case as Arlovski truly showed that he might be done in the fight game or at least the UFC.
From the start of the fight, Tybura was the more dominant fight although he did take some serious damage from Arlovski.
Two of the three rounds that these two heavyweights went saw Tybura on top of Arlovski grinding him down.
It was enough to get Tybura a unanimous decision win which is sure to boost is ranking in the heavyweight division.
The loss for Arlovski was not a good one as he made his way through his career fighting the best of the best and losing to Tybura handed him his fifth straight loss while stepping down in competition.
It is going to be tough for the UFC to keep Arlovski around after this loss as his career, at least his UFC career, might be done.
The same type of dynamic existed for Holm when she stepped into the cage against Bethe Correia.
Correia was a former title challenger but largely because there weren’t a lot of title challengers in the beginning of the women’s bantamweight division.
Ronda Rousey was so much better than everyone that she had cleaned out the division before it even began.
Correia was a part of that as she was easily beaten by Rousey in her challenge and after that didn’t do a lot in the division.
Holm was the clearly better and more accomplished fighter and once again the match-up wasn’t likely to spark a massive debate over who was going to win.
Holm was supposed to win and win easily as she was the fighter that the UFC wanted to return to greatness.
She had beaten Rousey in dramatic fashion and was the first fighter to compete for the featherweight title.
Unfortunately, she also hadn’t been on the winning side since her Rousey fight and that featherweight title fight was just a part of her three-fight win streak.
The UFC wants her to be successful because she is a great fighter but the best fighters can only lose so much until the UFC moves on.
This fight against Correia was almost like the UFC was sending her a little bit of rope to drag her back into the big fights.
Of course, it is the fight game and like the previous fight anything can happen and Correia was looking to make that anything happen in Singapore.
The first two rounds for these two women were not the most exciting as neither seemed to want to do anything.
They didn’t want to make a mistake and it seemed like Holm was in danger of leaving the fight up to the judges again.
Then came the massive head kick in the third round that immediately ended the fight with shades of the Ronda Rousey win.
It was a big knockout win and it handed Correia a loss as she is likely going to stay on the periphery in the bantamweight division.
Holm took the win though and it was an impressive one that is sure to bring her back to the top of the women’s game.
Both Arlovski and Holm entered the fight night looking to gain a very important win and now everyone will get to see just how important those wins were as Holm and Arlovski are headed on different paths after their night in Singapore.
The Sport Addiction 