Holly Holm believes she still deserves the credit for knocking out Ronda Rousey.
‘The Preachers’ Daughter’ will compete this weekend at UFC 300 against Kayla Harrison, a fighter who is being compared to Rousey, as she looks to get her career back on track at bantamweight.
Holm has already battled former UFC champion ‘Rowdy’ and came out on the winning side, stopping her within two rounds of their November 2015 clash at UFC 193.
Rousey suggested in a brave interview with talkSPORT MMA that she was suffering from concussions prior to the loss, but Holm believes she was simply the better fighter on the night.
“I say this all out of respect,” Holm responded at UFC 300 media day. “In order to have a big upset like that fight was, you have to have a dominant champion.
“So, without her being so dominant then I couldn’t have been able to have such an upset. With that being said, I was the better fighter.
“I was the better fighter that night, and every fighter at this point, if you have made a career of fighting, you’ve had a concussion at some point.
“You go back and look at some of my boxing fights and some of the things that I’ve done, I’ve definitely had some concussions.
“I’ll never sit here and use that as an excuse for any loss. I think that it’s probably just hard for her to really want to admit that I was the better fighter.
“Was she so dominant and a good champion? 100 per cent. I give her that, but she wasn’t better than me, and especially that night.”
Rousey revealed she suffered concussion symptoms every time she was punched, which originated from her days as a judo practitioner.
Her defeat to the American sparked new question marks over Rousey’s health but she did return to the octagon 11 months later against Amanda Nunes in 2016.
Unfortunately, it ended in very similar fashion against the dominant Brazilian who rallied to an early stoppage win in just 48 seconds.
This caused her to call an early time on her career aged 29, which disappointed fans who believed she had more to give prior to retirement.
Irrespective of the devastating ending, Rousey goes down as one of the greatest to ever grace the octagon.
News Summary:
- Holly Holm responds to Ronda Rousey’s claim she suffered from concussions before UFC defeat
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