After years as an underdog in boxing and again against Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm ain’t care about the label leading up to her latest fight.
It’s kind of crazy that we keep considering former boxing and UFC champ Holly Holm an underdog, but that’s exactly what’s happening once again in the leadup to her WMMA fight of the year against Cris Cyborg at UFC 219 on December 30th. That’s no slight to Holly but more a nod to Cyborg’s dominating career.
Cris has an 18-1-1 record that has featured near omnipresent dominance. Holly Holm? Her UFC career has been marked by flashes of brilliance, which makes this fight all the more interesting. Holm discussed being comfortable with her underdog status during a media call for UFC 219.
“I think there are similarities with the feeling of it, knowing that people are having a little bit of doubt,” Holm said. “But I think that because I’ve done this more than once now in boxing, and it’s probably even more seen with Ronda, to be the underdog and come in, I think that people think ‘Oh, okay, Holly is capable of doing some of things,’ so I feel like there’s more of curiosity behind it. Not necessarily just thinking I can’t do it, but kind of ‘I wonder if she’s going to do it this time.'”
Regardless, Holm isn’t worried about this individual fight defining her legacy, win or lose.
“I know that a win would definitely be a huge thing for my legacy and my career,” she said. “But it’s definitely not something that would just define it right now. Even with a win I would still want to push forward and be succeeding after this fight. There have been fights in my career that I’ve won that have helped with what I feel is my legacy, but each fight is not the defining fight. It’s the whole career and every opponent that’s gotten me to here, the whole journey along the way.”
Holm and Cyborg will face off December 30th from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.