Meet the rocket scientist behind the Holly Holm hype train

I'm sure you have heard that Holly Holm won her fight on Saturday by unanimous decision over Angela Hayes. The fight was promoted by her manager Lenny Fresquez. Tristin Critchfield of Sherdog was at the show and did video interviews with Holly, her trainer Mike Winklejohn and Fresquez. The interviews with Holly and Winklejohn are pretty standard. But in his interview, Fresquez says he wants a six figure UFC contract for Holly or she will keep fighting tomato cans in Palookaville. OK I have to stop laughing now. Obviously Holly is a former boxing champ and she has star potential as an MMA fighter. But I think her future is questionable as long as this bumbling idiot manages her. The UFC has said that they have already made inquiries about Holly and have been told she isn't ready. And she won't be ready as long as she is facing mediocre competition. At least in Invicta or the UFC, she would face a higher level of competition. That's what she needs to improve. Apparently, Fresquez doesn't want that. I've seen managers attempt this kind of strategy before. It doesn't work and it makes him a laughing stock. Fresquez did announce that in March, Holly will face Brazilian fighter Juliana Werner in a Legacy FC championship match. I would describe Juliana as unknown as opposed to suspect. It's actually similar to how Japanese promoters use foreign fighters sometimes. Bring in an unknown and because no one has seen her, it can't be said that she isn't qualified. Juliana has a 7-3 record but two of her losses were to Vanessa Porto. One of those fights where she was choked out in 30 seconds is on Youtube. She made her MMA debut in 2005 and then took a five year break and returned in 2011. She hasn't lost since her return but she hasn't beaten anyone with a winning record. And all her fights have been at 125lb. I see this a lot in Brazil. There are a lot of female fighters there but a good number of them aren't very good. It can be difficult to identify the elite fighters because the general talent level isn't high. Of course it's ludicrous that someone who hasn't fought outside Brazil is getting a title shot. But I guess Fresquez doesn't care if Holly ever fights a credible opponent under his watch. Check out the video.