Holly Holm News

Drake Riggs - April 25, 2018

A UFC career can be a true roller coaster ride in every sense of the phrase. You can go from incredible highs to devastating lows in the blink of an eye. For Holly Holm, she isn’t quite at a point of ‘rock bottom’, but the once champion has lost some steam since her phenomenal dismantling of the dominant bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey back in 2015.

Tom Taylor - April 13, 2018

UFC 225, which goes down on June 9 in beautiful Chicago, Illinois, looks like an early frontrunner for 2018’s Card of the Year. One of the latest additions to this absolutely stacked card is a women’s featherweight showdown between former Invicta featherweight champ Megan Anderson, and former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm. Given that there is only a handful of fighters in the UFC women’s featherweight division, it should come as no surprise that this newly announced matchup is of particular interest to divisional champ Cris Cyborg. Speaking to Amy Kaplan of Fansided, Cyborg gave her take on this matchup. While she isn’t surprised that the UFC put the fight together, she also doesn’t seem sure it was the right fight to make.

Tom Taylor - April 12, 2018

Former Invicta featherweight champion Megan Anderson will finally make her UFC debut at UFC 225 on June 9 in Chicago. While debuting fighters are often given soft welcomes to the UFC, Anderson will receive no such luxury. Instead, the Australian will battle former UFC women’s bantamweight champion and two-time featherweight title challenger Holly Holm. This awesome booking was first reported by the Chicago Tribune.

Tom Taylor - January 3, 2018

Last weekend, the UFC touched down in Las Vegas, Nevada with UFC 219. In the card’s main event, we watched Cris Cyborg defend her women’s featherweight title by out-duelling Holly Holm to a unanimous decision win. In the co-main event, meanwhile, we saw lightweight star Khabib Nurmagomedov extend his record to an insane 25-0, bludgeoning Edson Barboza to a unanimous decision win. Elsewhere on the main card, we saw Dan Hooker tap Mark Diakiese, Neil Magny outwork Carlos Condit, and Carla Esparza sneak by rising prospect Cynthia Calvillo.

Chris Taylor - January 1, 2018

JacksonWink MMA explains why there will be no apology for Cris Cyborg A photographer from JacksonWink MMA made headlines shortly following the conclusion of Saturday’s UFC 219 event, this after he posted a photo on social media while referring to Cris Cyborg as a “dude” and a “man”.

Chris Taylor - December 31, 2017

Bruce Buffer shares post-fight picture with “true warrior” Holly Holm! Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion of the world Holly Holm put forth a valiant effort in her bid to dethrone current UFC women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg last night in Las Vegas.

Chris Taylor - December 31, 2017

UFC 219 Cyborg vs. Holm judges scorecards revealed Cris Cyborg successfully defeneded her UFC featherweight title against Holly Holm in the main event of UFC 219 last night in Las Vegas.

Christine Allen - December 31, 2017

On December 30th, as I watched Holly Holm skip to the Octagon, a ball of nervous energy, the words of CT Fletcher, the ‘strongest man that (up until recently) you’ve never heard of’, came back to me. “People don’t understand how much it takes to just…actually get in that cage and face another man who’s trying to take your f*cking head off.” He told the listeners of The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. “I remember how much it took (for me) fighting at the long beach arena…that crowd makes a big f*cking difference Joe, I got so f*cking nervous. Everything that I had learned, I f*cking forgot.”

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2017

Pros react to Cris Cyborg’s victory over Holly Holm! Cris Cyborg retained her UFC featherweight championship in the main event of tonight’s UFC 219 fight card in Las Vegas by defeating Holy Holm via unanimous decision.

Chris Taylor - December 30, 2017

A women’s featherweight title fight between current champion Cris Cyborg and former bantamweight title holder Holly Holm served as the main event of tonight’s UFC 219 fight card in Las Vegas. HERE WE GO!!#UFC219 pic.twitter.com/mNFW134MAk

Justin Golightly - December 30, 2017

The main and co-main event of UFC 219 are some of the best fights all year, with the match-ups that we’ve had in 2017, that’s high praise. Cris Cyborg defending her women’s UFC featherweight title against Holly Holm is arguably the biggest female fight of all-time. Meanwhile, Khabib Nurmagomedov makes his triumphant return to fight against top contender and dangerous striker Edson Barboza in a war for title contention. It’s interesting to see Conor McGregor’s coach John Kavanagh’s outlook on the match-ups — especially the co-main event — seeing as how he could still be a future opponent for McGregor, especially if he does end up ever fighting in Russia. “Khabib [Nurmagomedov] by stoppage in the championship rounds. He will be hit in the first but wrestling, in particular his body lock, will break [ Edson] Barboza as fight progresses. Ground-and-pound stoppage in fourth or fifth round. [Holly] Holm by stoppage within three rounds. The lack of size advantage [for Cris Cybog] plus Holm’s technical ability in striking will decide this. Cyborg relies on strength and intimidation a lot, she wont have that here.” – John Kavanagh via his Twitter.

Justin Golightly - December 29, 2017

In the lead-up to UFC 219, there has been no way to miss the accolades of either Cris Cyborg or Holy Holm. Both have laundry lists of accomplishments and present unique challenges to one another, neither of which have ever faced in their careers. As far as Cyborg goes, she does boast something that Holm simply cannot claim. Cris Cyborg has been unbeaten in MMA since 2005. However, she has lost once since then in muay thai. Dutch kickboxer Jorina Baars won a unanimous decision over her back in 2014. Turns out, she’s just as big of a fan of the UFC 219 fight as you probably are. “I really want to see this fight. It’s such a great match-up. I think it’s the best women’s fight ever because Cyborg and Holly Holm are both great athletes and they fight stand-up and they can fight on the ground as well. Their technique is really good. I know Cris is working hard on her kickboxing and stand-up and I know Holly is working on her wrestling. I can’t wait. I think Holly is the better striker from her boxing background. Cris is working on her stand-up very hard and she worked with [Clarissa Shields]. It’s a very good fight.”

Justin Golightly - December 28, 2017

In a couple of days, Holly Holm will step into the Octagon to try and dethrone the dominant Cris Cyborg and take her featherweight title. Having beat Ronda Rousey at the top of her career, a win over Cyborg will put her as the best women’s fighter of all time and the first ever women’s two-division champion. Add that to her boxing accolades and it’s hard to argue for anyone else. However, there is one other fighter who has given Rousey a loss: Current UFC bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes. Who is also ready to cement her place as the best female fighter on the planet by beating whoever comes out on top this Saturday. “We have the utmost respect for [Cris] Cyborg and [Holly] Holm, it’d be a great fight with either one, but we believe Amanda [Nunes] could be champion in both divisions, because she has all the tools for that. She is an extremely well rounded fighter and has been showing that she does deserve to face the winner. That’s our main focus for 2018. Of course we know she has no way to defend two belts, but that decision would be taken after her fight against the Cyborg vs. Holm winner.” — American Top Team coach Conan Silveira speaking to Portal do Vale Tudo.

Justin Golightly - December 27, 2017

We are just a few days away from the biggest women’s MMA fight since Holly Holm first took the bantamweight title away from Ronda Rousey back in 2015. Holm will take on Cris Cyborg in a huge main event with the featherweight title on the line. The comparisons to the approaching moment has not been lost on the Jackson Wink fighter or her coaches. A win here not only would make Holly Holm a two-division UFC champion, but also the best female fighter in the world. Even if there was no belt on the line, that’s what means more to her. “I want to do things in this world and in my life that haven’t been done before. If there’s no female that’s done it before, guess what? I want to do it. That’s something that’s always driven me. I’m a driven person. That’s something that really drives me. On the flip side of that coin, I would still want to beat [Cris Cyborg] just as badly even if it wasn’t for the belt. Yes, to be a champion in two divisions is huge but just to win against one of the most highly respected fighters, that’s where the real pride is.”

Drake Riggs - December 26, 2017

Gilbert “El Nino” Melendez knows a thing or two about fighting. He has been one of the Lightweight division’s very best for the better half of the last ten years. Primarily known as the king of Strikeforce, Melendez defended a Strikeforce title six times overall and was a three-time champion. He also was the very first ever WEC champion. Nowadays, Melendez has been trying his hand as an analyst and has been doing a great job. Since it’s the week of UFC 219 which is headlined by the big Featherweight title fight that pits Cris Cyborg against Holly Holm, Melendez took the time to share his thoughts with ESPN on how Holm can defeat the seemingly unbeatable, Cyborg.

Justin Golightly - December 22, 2017

There’s a serious chance for Holly Holm to shock the world once again at UFC 219. She’s confident she can do it, and her coaches believe she can do it as well. If she manages to take out Cris Cyborg, she’ll have beaten two of the number one female fighters on Earth. Knowing Cyborg’s track record and how long she has been dominant, if she does beat her, then Holly Holm is graciously willing to offer her an immediate rematch, just like she was going to do with Ronda Rousey. “Yes [I would give Cris Cyborg an immediate rematch if I beat her] and with Ronda [Rousey] I was open to a rematch as well, it’s just they didn’t know how long or when she would come back or if she would want to. And that’s when I said well I just don’t want to wait around. I’ll wait if you can tell me this is going to be within six months or whatever but I didn’t want to just be waiting around for that one fight. I want to be able to fight and train and live out my passion. I didn’t want it to be based around just one fighter. So I was welcome to the fact to rematch her, it’s just they didn’t have any answer if she really was going to come back and if she did, how long it would be.”

Justin Golightly - December 15, 2017

It’s a huge fight. A career-defining bout with big stakes. The title is on the line and Holly Holm is the underdog against one of, if not the best women fighter on the planet. Does this all sound familiar? Back at UFC 193, Holm hit the ‘kick heard ’round the world’ on Rousey and earned the biggest MMA victory of her life in front of a stunned audience. Those comparisons aren’t lost on Coach Mike Winkeljohn either. He recently broke down his thoughts on the fight and predicts Holm stops Cyborg to shock the world once again. “Oh, absolutely [there are comparisons to the fight with Ronda Rousey]. You know what, behind the scenes when we fought Ronda we were pretty confident that we had the proper game plan to beat Ronda. Everybody thought we were crazy, everyone thought Holly was crazy when she first fought Christy Martin back in the early days in boxing cause Christy Martin knocked everyone out, and Holly made that look easy, and she had what I call that ‘Christy Martin’ moment where Christy tried to throw a punch at her, Holly slipped under and then Christy almost went through the ropes. Guess what? Ronda did the same thing, and it’s gonna happen in the Cris Cyborg fight, she’s gonna have that same moment.”

Justin Golightly - December 6, 2017

After many, many months of hype, negotiations and a back-and-forth suspense on if the fight would be on UFC 219, Cris Cyborg will finally defend her women’s UFC featherweight title against Holly Holm. When the division was first created for the dominant Brazilian fighter, it’s the match-up we all thought would be for the belt and now it’s happening. Coach Jason Parillo vows a knockout victory for Cyborg, which may be aided by some “help” that the champ has received from some Brazilian fighters in New Mexico. However, Cyborg claims she didn’t need the advice and honorably refused it. “Many Brazilians are excited about this fight. Both times I fought in Brazil at 63.5kg, the fans wanted me to face Holly [Holm], and since this fight was announced I was surprised by the number of Brazilian fighters who offered me support. Believe it or not, I had some Brazilians who trained in New Mexico who came to share things about their training. Although I thanked them for wanting to see me succeed and continue representing Brazil as champion, I did not let what they said influenced my training. In the end, I do not care what kind of training she’s doing for her confidence, wrestling or boxing. My team is preparing me for the best version of Holly Holm.”