Nearly two weeks after losing to Valentina Shevchenko by unanimous decision, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm had to undergo surgery to repair a thumb injury.
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Holm Undergoes Thumb Surgery
Wednesday, Aug. 3
Per ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto, Holm’s manager Lenny Fresquez said that Holm “shattered” her left thumb during the bout with Shevchenko and had “eight pins inserted into her hand” to repair the damage.
As for a return timetable, Fresquez was unable to provide a definitive answer. He did say Holm and her camp would “still like to fight by the end of the year,” but they don’t have a specific opponent in mind.
It’s been an interesting nine-month stretch for Holm. She rose to superstardom last November by handing Ronda Rousey the first loss of her career to win the UFC women’s bantamweight title and run her record to a perfect 10-0.
In two fights since that monumental victory, though, Holm has been shut down. She lost the championship in her first defense against Miesha Tate in March and followed that up by losing to Shevchenko in a lopsided battle.
Okamoto added in his report that Holm was hoping to take part in UFC 205 as part of the first-ever UFC show at Madison Square Garden in November.
A perfect-world scenario for UFC would have featured a Holm-Rousey rematch for the title.
Instead, Holm’s star has fallen after two straight losses and an uncertain return timeframe due to her injured thumb. She needs to make sure she’s physically 100 percent upon coming back to avoid another loss and get her career back on the right track.
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