ALBUQUERQUE, NM — The first thing Holly Holm did last month after pulling out of her UFC debut? First, she cried. Then… well, she made a bed.
“Like, out of wood,” Holm says, laughing. “I Googled it and took my time doing it. I had to do something.
“I have pictures. It’s legit. It’s a double, but the headboard’s really high. And I made the whole frame and everything. It’s on a cast with wheels. And a matching nightstand. Hardest thing I’ve ever done is the drawers. One of our spare rooms didn’t have a bedroom set and furniture’s expensive. Wood’s not as expensive, so I thought I’m going to give it a go.
“I was over it by the time I was done … but I have to say, it’s kinda similar to quilting. And I’ve done that a long time.”
Impromptu arts and crafts projects. Apparently that’s what happens when you spend 12 years punching faces and cashing checks, then suddenly find yourself wondering what the hell to do with an empty schedule.
So it goes without saying that Holm, the 33-year-old undefeated former world champion boxer whose July UFC signing was greeted with much fanfare, has been “super fidgety” ever since a herniated disk sidelined her from an expected UFC 181 debut against Raquel Pennington. That setback came right after rehab stint for a broken arm, and much to her distaste, it ensured that 2014 would go down as the most sedentary year of her entire fighting career.
“I can’t even tell you how many other crafts or different things I tried to do,” she says.
“I think I’m just numb to it by now. Last year I had six fights in 12 months. And this year, one. A broken arm and a herniated disk. So what can you do? I’ve gone 16 years without an injury so I guess I really can’t complain. I’m just trying to heal, not get too frustrated. But I’ve been a very active fighter. There was a lot of anticipation for that first fight in the UFC, so it was a huge letdown, especially because I was already three-quarters of the way through a full training camp and I’d already put so much hard work in. It was very much a letdown.
“But I’m getting over it. I’m ready to just have a fight again.”
Holm’s first day back to sparring came on Tuesday, and she made the most of it, going body blow for body blow with the assembled Jackson-Winkeljohn faithful. (No head shots yet, that’s for next week.) If all goes well, she hopes to be medically cleared to resume a full training camp by the end of the year, then ready to fight at the end of February or beginning of March.
And at this point, after spending a year talking about a potential UFC debut without much to show for it, she’s just ready to get that first one behind her.
“I was so ready for that to be over with… with a win, of course. Is that too much to ask?” she says, laughing again. “I just want that to be over with a win. It’s going to take a lot of hard work one way or the other, and maybe, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Maybe it gave my arm more time to heal. Maybe it prevented me from getting my neck really, really hurt in the fight or… you know, I’m trying to look at it positively. But there’s a lot of anxiety over the first fight. How could there not be? Just from even the retirement from boxing and all the drama from changing over, then all the drama of signing with the UFC and the back and forth negotiations. That didn’t really bother me, but it’s just been a lot of attention and I was patient.
“But you know, maybe it’s just helping me get really into it. Just dive into it and take it all in and go with it.”
To her credit, even without having fought yet in the UFC, Holm stands as the organization’s No. 14 ranked 135-pounder largely based on reputation alone. Considered to be one of the top female prospects in the sport, the soft-spoken Holm has treated MMA’s regional scene as her own personal hunting grounds, finishing six of her seven opponents in devastating fashion and showing one-shot knockout power rarely seen in the division.
Of late Holm has even drawn praise from the division’s queen Ronda Rousey, who named the former pugilistic champ as a “worthy opponent” to consider watching in 2015.
“It’s flattering,” Holm says. “She’s obviously blown through everybody that she’s fought in the UFC. There’s no doubt that she is the toughest girl out there. But everybody’s beatable. I want to be able to have that opportunity to get in there with her, just in a good sportsman way.
“If you’re not wanting to get in there and fight the best or get the belt or be the best, then you probably shouldn’t really be doing this at all.”