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Holly Holm May Not Face Ronda Rousey In Next Fight After All, Champ Wants To Fight Sooner Than Later

By Val Powell
Published on: 10:49 PST, Jan 5, 2016

UFC Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm may be ready for a rematch with MMA fighter and actress Ronda Rousey in UFC 200 in Las Vegas this year, but it does not mean she isn’t prepared to face other challengers who are willing to face her sooner.

The 34-year-old former boxing champion hinted in an interview that she “hopefully” would be able to fight sooner rather than later.

“They haven’t really announced anything exact yet, so I guess we’ll just wait and see how the cards unfold. But I’m not going anywhere,” the New Mexico fighter said in an interview with MMA Hour’s Ariel Helwani.

Holly Holm added that unless a fight has been set in stone, she does not want to “wait around for things.”

She’s also making sure that whether or not she fights earlier this year, there will definitely be a rematch against Rousey, (12-1). Some of the possible cards where she can return to the octagon include UFC 197 in March and UFC 198 in April.

The kick boxer earlier mentioned that while she wants to fight soon because she “loves the sport,” she does not get to arrange and schedule her own fights.

Now that Holm, (10-0) has signed a new multi-year contract with the UFC, it will definitely be among both parties to decide who Holly Holm will fight next.

The signing took place in Las Vegas on Saturday.

Lenny Fresquez, Holm’s manager, told ESPN that they have signed a multi-year extension to Holm’s contract with the UFC. However, Fresquez did not disclose any more details regarding the payout and only said that they are happy with the extension.

In her first two matches with the UFC, one against Racquel Pennington and another against Marion Reneau, Holm’s payout for each of those matches is $25,000, for a total of $50,000.

However, reports noted that this is not the exact amount that the athlete actually gets. Her payout during her bout with Rousey was undisclosed.

Meanwhile, two of the possible opponents that the new bantamweight champion may face are Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes.

Currently ranked No. 4 in the official UFC women’s bantamweight rankings, Nunes, 27, last fought in August in which she defeated Sara McMann via submission. She has an 11-4 win-loss record.

On the other hand, Tate has been on a roll, winning her last four matches and clinching the second spot in the UFC women’s bantamweight rankings. Tate was supposed to be the next opponent of Ronda Rousey if she had successfully defended her title against Holly Holm.

Fresquez, in the meantime, is “pretty sure” that the UFC will announce Holm’s next fight this week.

In December, UFC president Dana White told reporters that Rousey will definitely get a rematch against Holm in order to satisfy the demands of promoters and fans.

However, even before her defeat, the Furious 7 actress has already announced that she will take a long break and be back in the Octagon at UFC 200.

In November, Holly Holm shocked the MMA world after she dominated crowd favorite Ronda Rousey, who has long been regarded by White as the person responsible for reviving the UFC’s popularity.

The former boxing champion brought out her boxing and kickboxing skills, and took out Ronda’s ground game in the two-round fight.

The “Preacher’s Daughter” connected with a flurry of punches and kept Ronda at bay with her high and low kicks. During the title bout, it was also clear that Holm was the more agile fighter of the two.

There was even an instance in the second round where Ronda slipped after failing miserably to hit Holly Holm.

In December, Ronda Rousey said that she has to beat Holly Holm no matter what it takes.

[Image by Josh Hedges/Getty Images]

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