One small bit of fallout from the rematch between Chris Weidman and Anderson Silva being moved to UFC 168 is that Ronda Rousey’s title defense against Miesha Tate lost the main event slot. While Silva vs. Weidman has the possibility of being one of the largest fights in UFC history, Rousey is one of the cornerstones of the UFC’s promotional plans going forward.
But, Rousey says that she has no problems with being in the co-main event slot, and even thinks that it might help:
“I’m super stoked about being on the same card as Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman,” Rousey told USA TODAY Sports and MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). “It’ll alleviate some of the promotional stress and pressure because there’ll be more of us working to promote this big card.”
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“Their fight may very well be the fight of the year, maybe even in the history of the company, and I think it’s an honor to be a part of that,” Rousey said.
Personally, I’m glad that Rousey vs. Tate isn’t in the main event role.
Their first fight was fun, but Rousey finished Tate in spectacular fashion. And Tate is coming into the rematch on the “strength” of getting finished by Cat Zingano and a Cat injury forcing her out of the title shot.
Tate is the challenger because she earned it through the strength of her career, but it just wasn’t a strong main event other than in Rousey’s name value and a season of TUF to promote it.
While Weidman finished Silva in spectacular fashion also, Silva’s title run was so incredible that the immediate rematch is entirely sensible and exciting.