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In todays news: "Ronda Rousey tipped for UFC return by Holly Holm following knockout loss"

What does "tipped" mean in this sentence? I checked the dictionary and do not see any fitting definition.

It is a UK newspaper so maybe its a UK meaning.

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    Related at ELL: Strong winds are tipped
    – choster
    Nov 20, 2015 at 16:13
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    It's "journalese" for Even after losing by a knockout, Ronda Rousey is tipped (indicated as likely to succeed) by Holly Holm (in being granted another match within the Ultimate Fighting Championship organisation). But it's ambiguous to me whether it's specifically a return match against the same opponent, or simply a chance to return to the championship.
    – FumbleFingers
    Nov 20, 2015 at 16:33
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    It's very much a British English usage, as that NGram chart shows. But I'm not going to post that as an answer because I can't figure out how to embed the latest NGram format as a graphic in an ELU answer.
    – FumbleFingers
    Nov 20, 2015 at 16:48
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    I'm pretty sure Holly means that she's likely to return the ring rather than quit for good as some seem to be speculating. Holly implies that Ronda is too good to just quit.
    – Jim
    Nov 20, 2015 at 18:22

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(This answer posted on behalf of @FumbleFingers, who deserves the credit for the fundamental meaning and the NGram as posted in the comments above. My dictionary reference and identification of the corresponding American term are merely additions to the foundation formed from his comments.)

The idiom "tipped to win" means that the person is indicated as likely to succeed.

From Cambridge Dictionaries Online:

[T often passive] mainly UK

to say that someone is ​likely to be ​successful or ​achieve something:

  • He is being tipped as the next ​prime ​minister.

  • [+ to infinitive] Davis is being tipped to ​win the ​championship.

The use of the phrase "tipped to win" is very much a British English usage, as seen in the following NGram:

NGram of British English versus American English usage

In American English, the corresponding phrase is "favored to win."

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  • Good detective work. I wonder why Collins doesn't give it?
    – Edwin Ashworth
    Nov 20, 2015 at 18:32
  • I wondered that myself when I looked in Collins. Most dictionaries didn't include a definition of this specific phrase. Interestingly, the phrase is available in a number of translation dictionaries, for whatever that's worth.
    – Nonnal
    Nov 20, 2015 at 18:38
  • I might have said hat tip to FF.
    – choster
    Nov 20, 2015 at 19:05
  • @choster That would be been less verbose, indeed. :-)
    – Nonnal
    Nov 20, 2015 at 19:06
  • Every time I've used Collins, I've been disappointed by it. Merriam-Webster and Oxford are much more comprehensive and useful, IMHO.
    – Hellion
    Nov 20, 2015 at 22:32
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A "Tip" in this context is a phrase borrowed from horse racing and is commonly understood in British and Australian English. It refers to information that may "tip the scales in your favour" or be of benefit to you. It has a mildly illicit tone commensurate with "a word in your ear". "Tipped", as quoted in your question is a journalistic phase intended to imply that they have "inside" information to a future occurrence.

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It means "expected".

It comes from gambling and stock markets, where a hint (usually illicit, as based on supposed inside knowledge) regarding how to bet is called a "tip".

So if somebody or something is "tipped to X", that means they are expected to (do or achieve) X.

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