Holly Holm steps into the ring on Saturday in Puerto Rico chasing her fourth world title throughout completely different boxing weight divisions. The 44-year-old former UFC champion faces undefeated WBA light-weight titleholder Stephanie Han at Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan this weekend. However as she prepares for certainly one of her greatest comeback fights, Holm’s thoughts has drifted again to certainly one of fight sports activities’ most iconic moments, and the rematch that by no means was.
Holly Holm Open to Ronda Rousey Rematch
In a current interview with Damon Martin, Holm made clear she stays open to combating Ronda Rousey once more. “I don’t know if Ronda will ever battle once more, but when she does, I received’t be shocked,” Holm stated.
“She was an Olympian, she was a champion, and also you don’t get to that time with out having a ardour for sports activities, with a ardour for what you wish to do. If she’s again feeling that, that’d be nice. I don’t assume it’ll occur, but when it does… if she comes again, I’m all the time hoping for a rematch, too. So that you by no means know what’s going to occur with life.”
Rousey has been coaching just lately and hypothesis is mounting a few potential comeback practically a decade after her final battle. Holm understands that drive higher than most. After attaining all the pieces in boxing, then dominating MMA as a UFC champion, she herself stepped away and returned, proving that elite athletes usually really feel an itch to compete once more.
What makes Holm‘s perspective particularly pointed is her trustworthy evaluation of how Rousey dealt with her profession’s darkest second. After shedding her UFC title to Holm by way of head kick knockout in 2015, Rousey misplaced once more to Amanda Nunes in 2016 and basically disappeared from public view.
“I feel that Ronda undoubtedly didn’t like how her profession ended, but additionally she’s so much accountable for that, as a result of she pulled herself away,” Holm defined. “You see a few of these champions which might be reigning champions, they run right into a hiccup and so they at the least face the gang, face the digital camera, face the followers, face it. I consider there’s slightly bit of a better respect in that side.”
The fighter who’s spent her entire career chasing rematch opportunities for her own losses believes Rousey could still salvage her legacy, if she chooses to fight for the right reasons. “I think it definitely needs to be if she really wants to fight, not just because she wants it to be different,” Holm said, “because it won’t be different if she doesn’t truly actually just want to fight.”
“Martial arts fans and fight fans, they can be brutal, but also they’re fans. They’re fans of the sport and they realize that things happen, not everything’s always perfect. I think if she would have faced it differently – no judgment on it – but I think if she would have faced it differently, it probably wouldn’t have been maybe so negative as a whole in her own mind and how she felt, you know. If she wants to come back and make it right for her and feel better about it, and she’s got some itch in her that wants to get out and have a win… every athlete is going to feel that. If she does, then more power to her.”
Their first meeting at UFC 193 in Melbourne remains one of the most consequential upsets in sports history. Rousey entered the November 2015 fight as a 22-to-1 favorite, the heaviest odds ever placed on a UFC title fight. Yet Holm orchestrated a masterclass, controlling five rounds before delivering a head kick knockout 59 seconds into the second round. The event shattered records that seemed untouchable: 56,214 fans filled Etihad Stadium, the largest UFC crowd ever at that time, while over 1 million pay-per-views were purchased. The upset devastated Las Vegas bookmakers. For one night, Holm’s victory transcended sport, dominating sports coverage. Rousey spent that night in the hospital. She never granted the rematch.
For now, Holm’s focus is on Han. But if the sport’s greatest comeback story gets another chapter, Holm has already given her answer.
