Holly Holm prefers to fight again before Ronda Rousey rematch
Holly Holm would prefer to fight again before her rematch with Ronda Rousey and avoid a long layoff.
Holm told reporters on Saturday prior to taking in UFC 194 at the MGM Grand Garden arena in Las Vegas that she hoped she wouldn’t have to wait until July 9, the projected date of her second meeting with Rousey, to get back in the cage.
"Eight months is a long time between fights, and I don't want to wait that long," Holm said, according to ESPN. “But if that's what it is, I'll do it and I'll be ready.”
Holm, who stunned Rousey by knockout at UFC 193 in November to claim the women’s bantamweight title, deal her opponent her first career loss and remain undefeated at 10–0, said she would like to fight in the spring. UFC president Dana White said earlier this week that UFC 200, July 9 in Las Vegas, would be the likely date of their rematch. Given the hype already surrounding that fight, it seems unlikely the UFC would schedule another fight for its current champion to risk tarnishing the buzz should Holm lose.
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Holm, 34, said she would go with whatever the UFC has planned.
“I don't really like to lay out a path of what I think is best for me,” Holm said. “I just like to take it as it comes. That's why I'm sitting here today. They gave me the fight with Ronda. A lot of people thought it was too early, and I just took the opportunity.”
- Jeremy Woo
