ROUNDTABLE (pt. 1): Should UFC book a Germaine de Randamie vs. Holly Holm rematch in light of the late punches, or should they go right to de Germaine vs. Cyborg?

Should UFC book a Germaine de Randamie vs. Holly Holm rematch in light of the late punches, or should the priority be for Holly to get another win first and trying to book de Germaine vs. Cyborg?

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

The UFC should quietly offer Cyborg the fight. If she declines because she needs more time, tell her she’ll fight the winner and to start getting ready. Then publicly announce the Holly Holm vs. Germaine de Randamie 2 rematch with Cyborg fighting the winner. The priority should be getting Cyborg into the title picture. She’s the name, she’s the one who’s going to bring attention to the fight. She’s essentially the uncrowned champion and, until she loses, not many will think the champion is legit. If Cyborg takes the fight, Holm gets another shot after a win over someone else.

MICHAEL GROCKE, MMATORCH CONTRIBUTOR

I think Holly Holm got a raw deal in her fight against GDR at UFC 208. It was a failure by the NYSAC on multiple levels. I won’t even get into the travesty that was the scoring for the Anderson Silva vs. Derek Brunson fight since it isn’t the topic for this discussion.

For Todd Anderson to allow Germaine de Randamie to land punches after the horn sounded at the end of the second round, and then again after the end of the third round without penalty, was inexcusable. Holm was clearly rocked from the shots that landed after the rounds had ended and, in my opinion, it had an affect on the outcome of the fight. GDR won the fight with scores of 48-47, 48-47, 48-47. Had Anderson done his job and deducted a point from GDR, we are now looking at a draw. Fight results aside, Anderson’s main priority is looking out for the health and welfare of the fighters inside that cage. There again is where he failed.

With that rant out of the way, I don’t want to see a rematch… yet. While I think Holm deserves a rematch, I’m tired of the UFC holding up divisions with rematches and fights that take place outside of the champion’s division. Now that Cyborg is cleared to fight, she should be next up to fight de Randamie. In the meantime, Holly can take another fight and work her way back to a title shot.

JASON AMADI, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Holly Holm impressed no one in her first two UFC bouts. She was barely able to scrape by against Raquel Pennington and took a pedestrian decision off a largely unheralded Marion Reneau before shocking the world against Ronda Rousey. She’s been competitive in every subsequent bout, but lost all of them.

Even if the UFC tried to rehab Holm with a soft touch before matching her up with Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (whom I’m assuming destroys Germaine De Randamie), I don’t know that the public would buy it. No matter how many times you show the clip of her head kicking Ronda Rousey, you’re not likely to convince anyone that she poses a serious threat to Cristiane Justino at this point.

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