SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
August - 2016
41
Low risk high reward. For the UFC, any-
way. For Holm, the stakes are a little
higher.
In 2020, the last thing Holly Holm wants
to be is a trivia question: Who was the
first fighter to dethrone Ronda Rousey?
That’s where things stand right now.
She was a champ who didn’t defend
her belt. Oh, Miesha Tate might be in
the same boat, but she was also Strike-
force champ, and a pioneer. Holm? The
jury is still out. Did she just have the per-
fect style to down Rousey? Or is she re-
ally on the same level as other dominant
champs? Which was the one-off, the
Rousey fight, or the Tate fight?
Actual headlines this week, outsideMMA
circles, have run with “The woman who
beat Ronda Rousey is back” — in short,
that’s what Holm is to the mainstream
media and general public right now.
She’s not Holly Holm, former UFC cham-
pion, but “that girl” who beat Rousey.
Not cool. Frankly, Holm is better than
that. She just needs to show it, and the
only way to show it, is to beat Shevchen-
ko (lets be honest, that should not be an
issue) and go get her title back.
With Rousey still in exile from the divi-
sion, Nunes vs. Holm is the fight to make
if Holm is victorious Saturday night.
That’s a must win fight for Holm, which
makes Shevchenko a must win fight for
her in turn. The only other money fight
out there, beyond this path to the title, is
an eventual rematch with Ronda Rousey,
but it remains to be seen if that will ever
happen. Frankly, there’s a good chance it
may not.
So Holly Holm’s path to redemption starts
Saturday. Don’t be surprised if she makes
a rather stunning statement in the cage
that night. Because despite being known
mostly for beating Rousey, she really is
that good.
