It may take one of the richest deals in the UFC to ink 18-time, three-division world boxing champ Holly Holm to a contract.
When speaking with Sherdog.com, Holm’s manager, Lenny Fresquez, was an open book when it came to his client’s sought-after UFC contract, which includes a six-figure deal and a title shot against Ronda Rousey.
We’re just waiting for them to give us the right opportunity to fight Ronda Rousey because we want a title fight. We want to fight the best UFC fighter. …We’re looking for six figures, and there’s not too many fighters in the UFC that make six figures. Right now, Holly has probably earned more than about 80-percent of the male fighters in the UFC and probably earned more than 98-percent of the female fighters.
Before transitioning to MMA in 2011, Holm was touted as the top pound-for-pound women’s boxer in the world. She ended her boxing career with an unbelievable record of 33-2 and a legacy that stands alone with some of boxing’s all-time greats.
It’s been nothing but smooth sailing for the 32-year-old Jackson’s MMA prodigy since making the transition. On Friday night, she extended her record to 6-0 with a unanimous decision win over Angela Hayes at Fresquez Productions: Havoc.
With all her other wins coming by knockout, it marked the first time in Holm’s MMA career a fight went the distance.
During the post-fight media scrum for UFC 166, UFC President Dana White admitted that he had never seen Holm fight, and he didn’t even know what she looked like. Yet, he still knew who she was due to constant pressure from the media and fans to sign her. He even went as far as to call her the “female Conor McGregor” in regards to early popularity.
According to Fresquez, Holm and company aren’t attempting to be disrespectful or cause a rift in the negotiation process. The end goal is to see Holm put pen to paper on a UFC contract and start performing on the big stage in front of millions of fans.
Everything up until that point is just business.
We’d like to work with them, Fresquez told Sherdog. We’re not going to be disrespectful to the UFC, but they’ve also got to understand that they bought Strikeforce, they bought different ones. Holly’s a franchise. She’s not your normal fighter. She’s more of a franchise, a key marquee. To be honest with you, I think she’d represent the face of the UFC better than Ronda Rousey.
Will the UFC go out and spend big money on the “female Conor McGregor”? The ball is once again in Dana White’s court.
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