I'm sure most people know who she is by now, but she knocked out Ronda Rousey to win the women's bantamweight UFC belt! She's a great role model for others and very respectful to her opponents. Awesome kickboxer as well. Hopefully she beats Rousey again, assuming they rematch!
She had the perfect gameplan vs Ronda that's for sure, and I agree she was very classy in the whole buildup to the fight and has been ever since too. Much respect.
It'll be very interesting to see how she matches up against other opponents, she's only really had two other fights in the UFC, both against mediocore-level opponents and while she beat them, they weren't exactly convincing performances (the Pennington fight in particular).
They'll have to book the rematch against Ronda because the UFC likes money and that fight will make them a lot of it.
How that rematch plays out though depends almost entirely on Rousey IMO - whether she changes camps / coaches in particular, or demonstrates in some way that she's come up with a viable game plan. Because it looked for all the world like she had no idea what to do against a mobile southpaw, and no Plan B for when "bum rush into the clinch" failed.
It'll be very interesting to see how she matches up against other opponents, she's only really had two other fights in the UFC, both against mediocore-level opponents and while she beat them, they weren't exactly convincing performances (the Pennington fight in particular).
They'll have to book the rematch against Ronda because the UFC likes money and that fight will make them a lot of it.
How that rematch plays out though depends almost entirely on Rousey IMO - whether she changes camps / coaches in particular, or demonstrates in some way that she's come up with a viable game plan. Because it looked for all the world like she had no idea what to do against a mobile southpaw, and no Plan B for when "bum rush into the clinch" failed.
SMD Jabroni said:
I'm... not really sure that was the case. The fight stayed standing because Holm was able to keep it that way for the most part, but that doesn't mean Rousey's plan was necessarily to "outstrike the striker" or anything.
She was pretty clearly trying to get inside and get the clinch, Holm just kept denying it to her.
She's both a great woman & athlete. I like how she is super nice & positive all the time. Rousey started getting mean, co.cky & arrogant. I remember watching TUF a few seasons back & she was really mean towards Meisha Tate in that show. It was all childish & uncalled for IMO.
The rematch will be amazing though. Rousey is going to have a different strategy (taking her down & ground-n-pound/submission) this time, since she can't hang w/ Holly's stand up game. Holly will def be better on the ground by then though. So, it's going to be an amazing match up.
The rematch will be amazing though. Rousey is going to have a different strategy (taking her down & ground-n-pound/submission) this time, since she can't hang w/ Holly's stand up game. Holly will def be better on the ground by then though. So, it's going to be an amazing match up.
Again, I'm 99.9% sure Rousey's plan wasn't actually to try to "hang with Holly's stand up game". She was just forced to blunder around on the feet because Holm denied her the chance to get the clinch and take it to the ground.
As for Holm being a super-nice person (and an incredibly talented fighter to boot) I agree it's a fantastic thing to see. She should maybe ask Mighty Mouse how good that kind of approach is for your PPV sales though...
As for Holm being a super-nice person (and an incredibly talented fighter to boot) I agree it's a fantastic thing to see. She should maybe ask Mighty Mouse how good that kind of approach is for your PPV sales though...