UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm may have savagely separated Ronda Rousey from consciousness at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia, last year, but that hasn’t stopped the former champ from claiming she’s still “undefeated.”
“I really do believe I’m still undefeated because being defeated is a choice,” Rousey said on the Ellen Degeneres show. “Everyone has losses in their life, but I choose to always be undefeated.”
To be fair, I think Rousey was speaking more metaphorically, rather than literally. A lot of reporters interpreted the remarks to mean Rousey actually believes she hasn’t lost a fight, but I choose to believe Rousey was saying her will remains undefeated.
Either way, it was up to the press to then get a reaction from Holm to Rousey’s comments, not just for the undefeated remark but also her shocking admission she contemplated suicide, however briefly.
Holm said she wouldn’t apologize for winning but did express empathy for Rousey’s state of mind. More recently, she was asked about the “undefeated” comment as well. Here’s what she told MMAweekly.com:
“I feel like, that’s OK with me. Maybe that’s something that is coming out of her mouth that doesn’t really want to fully take in everything. I know for me any loss that I’ve had I look at it like, it is a very, very hard thing to swallow. But you gotta be honest with yourself.”
Holm said everybody’s mental game is different. For her, she said it’s better to own up to her losses and admit defeat in order to learn why she lost.
Although Holm is undefeated in mixed martial arts (MMA) with a 10-0 record, she’s experienced some heart-breaking losses in her 32-3-4 professional boxing record, including a knockout loss to Anne Sophie Mathis in the seventh round for the vacant IBA female and WBAN welterweight titles in 2011.
“I lost focus, I didn’t perform well, I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. And for me I needed to be honest with myself in order for me to get better.”
Holm added that if she treated her loss like a fluke then she wouldn’t have changed things to ensure she won the rematch. However, the champ clarified that’s just how her mind works and it might not work for everybody, especially Rousey.
“Maybe she needs to feel like she’s undefeated and on top and that’s OK for me.”
With all the Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz talk, Holm is a somewhat overlooked star set to do battle against Miesha Tate in the co-main event of UFC 196 in a week’s time.