Former UFC bantamweight champion, Holly Holm has admitted that a potential return to professional boxing in the future, appeals to her – as does a possible fight against recent big winner, lightweight champion, Katie Taylor – amid constant speculation regarding a bout between the two.
Holm, a former UFC bantamweight champion and two-time featherweight title challenger, is slated to headline UFC Vegas 55 later this month in a potential 135lb title eliminator against Brazilian contender, Ketlen Vieira.
The Albuquerque fan-favorite has been sidelined through injury since October 2020, most recently landing a unanimous decision win over Mexican striker, Irene Aldana in the main event of UFC Fight Island 4 in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Holm was penned to fight now-current bantamweight titleholder, Julianna Pena since her win over Aldana, however, has been forced to limit activity due to numerous injury setbacks.
Holly Holm and Katie Taylor have been linked with a boxing clash for countless years
Linked with a potential fight against the aforenoted, Taylor off the back of her stunning 2015 knockout upset win over Ronda Rousey, a pairing of the Bray native, and Holm failed to ever come to fruition.
However, off the back of Olympic gold medalist, Taylor’s split decision win over Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden last weekend, a potential matchup with Holm has surfaced again.
“We had talked, (Katie) Taylor and myself, before I wound up going to MMA,” Holly Holm said during an interview on The MMA Hour. “We had talked about a possible fight there. I always want to do something that hasn’t been done. I always get super intrigued by things, and I fought at three weight division, ‘40, ‘47, ‘54, and I never got to fight at ‘35. But I’ve done most of my MMA career at ‘35, and that’s what their fight was at. So it makes me like, ‘I want to go back in and show what I can do at a whole different weight class.’”
“I never even fought at that weight class when I was in boxing and I think I’m bigger and stronger than a lot of the 135ers, and I still have conditioning and I still have a lot of that ring experience behind me,” Holly Holm continued.
According to Holm, a return to the squared circle – in tandem with an allusive Taylor tangle would be intriguing to her.
“It does intrigue me, a lot,” Holly Holm said. “To the point where before, I was like, ‘I’ll never box again,’ and I’m not saying that. There’s been a lot of people that have been able to transition back and forth, but nobody’s really been able to do it successfully, and that drives me. I want to show people I was able to come to MMA from boxing but I can also go back. It does get me excited.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)