Former undisputed bantamweight champion, Holly Holm has reacted to claims from former-foe, Ronda Rousey that she had suffered a concussion due to a fall in the days before their 2015 title fight ahead of a new memoir release, claiming the inaugural gold holder likely finds it problematic to admit she was the lesser fighter on that occasion.
Holm, a former bantamweight champion and the inaugural featherweight championship challenger, is set to return to the Octagon this weekend on the preliminary card of UFC 300 – welcoming two-time Olympic gold medal winner, PFL star, Kayla Harrison to the promotion in a bantamweight clash.
And as for Rousey, the Hall of Fame inductee called time on her decorated mixed martial arts career back in 2017, following a second consecutive knockout loss in the form of a first round barrage defeatto former two-division champion, Amanda Nunes.
Revealing a bleak history with a slew of concussions and neurological issues which plagued her mixed martial arts career, Rousey claimed a fall down a flight of stairs ahead of her fight with Holm in Australia, resulted in a concussion ahead of fight night.
Holly Holm unsure about Ronda Rousey’s claims about 2015 title fight
Reacting to Rousey’s claims – as well as her idea that despite fan and pundit opinion, she is the greatest fighter of all time, Holm suggested it was likely near impossible for the Riverside native to admit that she was the lesser fighter when they locked horns.
“If you’ve made a career of fighting, you’ve had a concussion at some point,” Holly Holm told assembled media ahead of UFC 300. “You go back and look at some of my boxing fights and some of the things I’ve done, I’ve definitely had some concussions. I’ll never sit here and use that as an excuse for any loss.”
“I think that it’s probably just hard for her (Ronda Rousey) to maybe admit that – I was just the better fighter,” Holly Holm explained. “Was she so dominant and a good champion? 100 percent, I give her that. But she wasn’t better than me, and especially that night.”
Herself returning to the Octagon this weekend as part of the massive UFC 300 card, Holm takes on former two-time PFL lightweight champion, Harrison in a potential bantamweight title-eliminator.
Do you agree with Holly Holm’s claims about Ronda Rousey?