With a vicious kick to the face, Holly Holm knocked out the most feared women’s MMA fighter at the UFC 193 event a week ago. The blow was so powerful that it sent Rousey to the hospital with a badly split lip that may require surgery. Now, the current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women’s bantamweight champion discussed a possible rematch with Ronda Rousey during her recent appearance on ABC’s Good Morning America, MMA Mania reports.
“I think that, as far as Ronda with the rematch, I feel like for her — do what you want do do. If you’re passionate about it and want to get back and avenge that loss, then great,” the 34-year-old former professional boxer and kickboxer said. “If you want to focus on other things, great. I’m supportive of any fighter kind of doing what they’re passionate about. [On Ronda not shaking her hand before fight, defending her from scrutiny] I think she kind of had a little bit of an attitude here and there. She’s just there for a fight. Just a lot of emotion getting into the fight and when it comes to the end of the day, she’s just a competitor. I don’t have any hard feelings.”
.@_HOLLYHOLM #slomo #UFC193 open workouts pic.twitter.com/YvdbjyIyzY
— UFC (@ufc) November 12, 2015
Holly Holm’s kick was enough to knock out the MMA legend, Ronda Rousey, and so far the fight has been the biggest of her life. Before her surprising knockout loss, Rousey did not know what defeat felt like and was considered by many to be best female athlete ever. In 2006, she became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo. The 28-year-old, who remains among the highest-paid UFC fighters in history, won the silver medal at the 2007 World Judo Championships in the middleweight division and the gold medal at the 2007 Pan American Games. She is a star out of the ring as well, and has appeared in major movies such as Furious 7 , The Expendables, and Entourage .
But now, it’s Holly Holm’s time to shine and “The Preacher’s Daughter” is looking forward to defending her title. During an interview with Jim Rome from The Jim Rome Show, she said he’ll be even more prepared for the rematch than she was for the first fight.
“Every fight is different, so I don’t expect the fight to be the same, but I will train twice as hard to be as dominant,” Holm was quoted as saying. “But obviously, I’d go in with a plan and let the fight play out as itself. I don’t ever expect, you know, the fight we had is already in the past, and it’s time to keep getting better and pushing, going straight forward.”
According to CBS Sports , Holm also said she would wait for the UFC to decide on her next opponent, whether that’s a Rousey rematch or not, but she did note that she wants to fight again as soon as possible.
“I would like to fight sooner than later, so if we could get that put together, if I have another fight in between [a Rousey rematch], if they do the rematch right away, whatever the UFC says,” Holm said. “I really just like to focus on whatever opportunity is given to me. I don’t really like to pick what it is or say what I want. I just want to really take whatever they say, so if I have a different fight, great. If I have a rematch, great. Whatever comes my way.”
Best feeling in the world. Still trying to process and take it all in. There aren’t enough words to… https://t.co/uZXy6tKx8d
— Holly Holm (@HollyHolm) November 16, 2015
[Image via Al Bello/Getty Images Sport]
