Things did not go as planned for Holly Holm at
UFC
300.
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The former bantamweight title holder offered little resistance
against Kayla
Harrison, as she suffered a second-round submission defeat in a
preliminary bout on Saturday at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
While the former boxing champion figured to have an advantage at
range against Harrison, a two-time gold medalist in judo, Holm
instead elected to clinch with her opponent. Although “The
Preacher’s Daughter” was able to reverse Harrison early, she was
largely overmatched against the former
Professional Fighters League lightweight champion.
“Well, none of that went how I had envisioned over the last 10
weeks of this training camp. I have no excuses. I had all the best
coaching, the best teammates, the best sparring, all the help I
could have even dreamed of asking for,” Holm said in a video post
on Instagram.
“I went out there and I lost all focus on the game plan. I did
nothing that we trained for in this fight. All the respect to
Kayla, she was the better fighter tonight.”
The result was much different the first time Holm squared off
against a decorated judoka, when she upset Ronda
Rousey to capture the 135-pound belt at UFC 193 in November
2015. While there was some question as to how Harrison would
respond to cutting to bantamweight for the first time, the American
Top Team product looked physically dominant throughout the contest.
Holm has been victorious in just one of her last four Octagon
appearances dating back to May 2022, and UFC CEO Dana White stated
at Saturday’s post-fight press conference that he “would love” like
to see the former champion retire.
However, at this point in time it doesn’t appear that calling it a
career is in the cards for the 42-year-old
Jackson-Wink MMA standout.
“I just know I’m capable of more than that,” Holm said. “I’m one of
those that likes to self-reflect rather than run from things. I
think honesty with yourself can sometimes be the hardest thing. But
I’m healthy, my heart hurts, my ego hurts.
“But I just wanted to say thank you to all the fans that have
always stood by my side and of course, my team, my coaches, my
family, my friends. Much love to everybody, I appreciate you and
I’ll be back.”