Holly Holm Didn’t Care When Fans Booed Her In Singapore

Holly Holm got herself back in the win column this past weekend (Sat. June 17, 2017) when she took home a vicious third round KO win over former UFC bantamweight title challenger Bethe Correia. Holm came into the bout on a three-fight losing streak since shocking the mixed martial arts (MMA) world when she became […]

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Holly Holm got herself back in the win column this past weekend (Sat. June 17, 2017) when she took home a vicious third round KO win over former UFC bantamweight title challenger Bethe Correia.

Holm came into the bout on a three-fight losing streak since shocking the mixed martial arts (MMA) world when she became the first woman in the sport’s history to defeat then-UFC women’s 135-pound queen Ronda Rousey with a second round knockout in Australia. Holm uncorked a nasty head-kick that ended it all for “The Rowdy One,” and she brought that kick back when she finished “Pitbull” this last night.

During the post-fight press conference Holm was asked about the crowd’s negative reaction to her slow start and the lack of action in the opening round. “The Preacher’s Daughter” simply answered that she was virtually unaffected by the boos that echoed throughout the stadium (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“The game plan was not to rush anything,” Holm said. “We knew the crowd might boo; it’s the type of game plan the crowd might boo.”

“As soon as I heard it, I just thought, ‘You know what, I’m the one in here fighting. I’m going to stick to the game plan, and I’m going to pick the right shot,’” she said.

Holm’s perfectly timed head-kick couldn’t have came at a more perfect time, as she nailed it just after Correia taunted her to push forward and bring the action to her. Just like the boos, however, Holm says that the Brazilian’s taunting had no affect on her performance either:

“If I was training to fight me, I’d be like, ‘OK, she has a left kick. Let’s watch out for it,’” Holm said. “It’s one of those things, just that competitive side of me that thinks, ‘You know it’s coming, but I still want to hit you with it.’

“The taunting doesn’t do anything to me. That’s never affected me in any fight I’ve ever had. My whole plan was to stick to my game plan.”

As for what’s next for the former 135-pound champ, Holm was just ready to retreat to her hotel room to pop open a cold beer and enjoy the view of Singapore from her hotel room:

“I really wanted to enjoy this camp, this fight week, and I wanted to remind myself over and over that I do this because I love it,” she said. “A lot of people keep asking me, ‘What are you going to do now? You’re on a three-fight losing streak – what are you going to do now?’ It doesn’t really matter what everybody thinks I’m going to do. I started fighting because I love it and I’m passionate about it, and that was the reminder here. I’m going to be me. I’m the one who’s getting in there and fighting, anyway.”

“As far as what’s next for me, I see a beer and some french fries, and a beautiful view over Singapore at the hotel,” Holm said.

David McIntyre for USA TODAY Sports

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Holly Holm vs. Bethe Correia Full Fight Video Highlights

With an improbable three straight losses, Holly Holm never needed a victory more than when she met Bethe Correia in the main event of today’s (Sat., June 17, 2017) UFC Fight Night 111 from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. And she got just that. Holm used her trademark kickboxing to find an opening on […]

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With an improbable three straight losses, Holly Holm never needed a victory more than when she met Bethe Correia in the main event of today’s (Sat., June 17, 2017) UFC Fight Night 111 from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

And she got just that.

Holm used her trademark kickboxing to find an opening on a clowning Correia in the third round, absolutely melting her with a picturesque question mark kick that left no need for the follow-up shots Holm landed on an obviously out-of-it “Pitbull.”

It was the kind of statement Holm needed to make in a fight she was supposed to win, and it should instantly reinsert her back into a women’s bantamweight title picture that’s struggling for contenders. Watch the video highlights of Holm’s huge head kick KO courtesy of ESPN here:

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Holly Holm’s Dazzling KO Win Showcases All of Her Brilliance and Inconsistency

Nearing the halfway point of her UFC main event fight in Kallang, Singapore, on Saturday, Holly Holm showed little sense of urgency. She moved and feinted but rarely attacked. Her fists remained cocked and ready but passive. The action—or inactio…

Nearing the halfway point of her UFC main event fight in Kallang, Singapore, on Saturday, Holly Holm showed little sense of urgency. She moved and feinted but rarely attacked. Her fists remained cocked and ready but passive. The action—or inaction—was sluggish enough that referee Marc Goddard took the uncommon step of warning both fighters that at some point they would have to engage.

“Listen ladies,” he said, “I respect the game plan, but you have to make something happen.”

Holm’s opponent, Bethe Correia, wasn’t budging. Correia is by nature overly aggressive, but by this point in the third round, it was clear she was diverting from her base instincts and staying away from Holm’s counterstriking strengths in an effort to force the former UFC bantamweight champion to lead the dance. Correia smiled at Holm, shook her head, taunted her. And finally, she invited Holm to attack, waving her forward.

It was as if she were saying, I dare you.

After all this time, it’s become clear Holm has certain offensive preferences. One of them is to let her opponent go first. Correia was turning the tables on her to a degree that Holm had rarely seen. Holm was flummoxed enough that in the first round she attempted only 13 strikes, and landed only seven, per FightMetric.

But this? This was going too far. And proving MMA is a sport that loves its instant karma, Correia’s audacious invitation was met by force; a shin upside the head that recalled the one that Holm landed against Ronda Rousey so many months ago, back when she was seemingly ready to take over the MMA world.

The kick was a thing of beauty: a Brazilian kick that presents itself as a front kick to the body before curling up and around the opponent’s shoulder and to their jaw. It was textbook, crashing into Correia’s face and sending her down in a heap.

“I think obviously if I was training to fight me, I’d say, ‘She has a left kick; watch out,'” Holm said in the post-fight press conference. “It’s one of those things. I think you know it’s coming, but I still want to hit you with it.”

It was brilliant, and for most, it was good enough to erase all the tentative moments that came before it. It was good enough to wipe out Holm’s three-fight losing skid. It was good enough to remind the world that on her best day, Holm is one of the best in the world, and that someday soon, she might go a step beyond that by wrapping another gold belt around her waist.

And now, the downside. It’s not worth getting overly critical—Holm won, and she did so in highlight-reel fashion. But even in victory, she does things that lead to second-guessing.

After her last two losses—decisions to Germaine de Randamie and Valentina Shevchenko—Holm openly spoke about turning up the heat with her aggression and leaving no doubt in the minds of the judges regarding who won each round. That didn’t happen against Correia, at least not for the first two rounds. Holm did win both rounds on the judges’ scorecards, but neither of them were what anyone would call decisive. They were simply “enough.”

One way to look at that is she was pacing herself for a possible five-round fight. Another interpretation is that she was what she’s always been: slow and methodical.

“One of my goals was to not let it look messy,” Holm said. “Her style is she wants to get in, make it look like a brawl. I wanted it to look clean. I’m not happy with even letting her land a couple shots in the second round. I wanted to pick clean shots and do it right. The game plan was not to rush anything, even if the crowd might boo. I thought, ‘I’m the one in here fighting, and I’m going to pick the right shot.'”

Holm is clearly a fantastic fighter. Her boxing resume proves that; so does her dominant KO win over Rousey. But those moments of excellence are often sprinkled in among long periods of inactivity, even when she is the more talented of the two in the cage. MMA is a dangerous game, and a certain amount of defensive caution must be imparted in every game plan. Unchecked aggression is also a path to peril. But as she moves on to conquer her next mountain, Holm has to ask herself whether the balance is right.

But that’s a discussion for next week. Now is a time for celebration, and there is much to enjoy. Holm is no doubt back on the short list of bantamweight championship contenders, and in all likelihood, her counterstriking style would sync well with current champ Amanda Nunes—if Nunes can get by Valentina Shevchenko in July.

Holm could also bounce back up to featherweight to fight the victor of the Cris Cyborg-Megan Anderson title match, which is almost set, per Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting.

Winning creates opportunities, but it can also mask problems. With her win in Singapore, Holm ended a drought, but now she’ll take the escalator to higher-level competition. Athletically, she’s as good as anyone she might face in the future, so it may be her approach that makes the difference between winning and losing.

Saturday showed everything she can be and everything she is—the good and the bad on display; the power to change and the ability to evolve hers to summon in an instant.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC Fight Night 111 Post-Fight Press Conference Video

Today’s (Sat., June 17, 2017) UFC Fight Night 111 is in the boooks from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore. In the main event, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm got back into the win column with a brutal head kick knockout over Bethe Correia. In the co-headliner, rising heavyweight Marcin Tybura outlasted former […]

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Today’s (Sat., June 17, 2017) UFC Fight Night 111 is in the boooks from the Singapore Indoor Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

In the main event, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm got back into the win column with a brutal head kick knockout over Bethe Correia.

In the co-headliner, rising heavyweight Marcin Tybura outlasted former champion Andrei Arlovski. Watch the event’s post-fight press conference video here:

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Twitter Reacts To Holly Holm’s Shocking Knockout

UFC Fight Night 111 emanated from Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore this morning (Saturday, June 17, 2017). The headliner saw former bantamweight champion Holly Holm try to right the ship against former title challenger Bethe Correia. She did so in emphatic fashion. After a slow-paced first two rounds, referee Marc Goddard warned both Holm and […]

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UFC Fight Night 111 emanated from Singapore Indoor Stadium in Singapore this morning (Saturday, June 17, 2017). The headliner saw former bantamweight champion Holly Holm try to right the ship against former title challenger Bethe Correia. She did so in emphatic fashion.

After a slow-paced first two rounds, referee Marc Goddard warned both Holm and Correia for timidity, calling for more action. It came early in the third. Correia waved Holm on, and Holm obliged, throwing a question mark kick that dropped Correia to her seat. One follow-up punch on the dazed Brazilian put her out completely, giving Holm the much-needed victory.

In the co-main event, former heavyweight titlist Andrei Arlovski looked to halt his own losing streak against up-and-comer Marcin Tybura. He would not be as lucky.

Tybura caught a kick from Arlovski in the opening frame, advanced position, and dropped ground and pound for the second half of the round. But Arlovski hung tough and gutted it out, even climbing to his feet and hurting the exhausted Pole in the closing seconds. Round two was slow-paced as both men were very tired, Arlovski for absorbing a bad beating and Tybura for dishing it out. “Tybur” would get a critical takedown in the third round and ride out the rest of the round in dominant positions. He didn’t have enough left in the tank to go for the finish, however. He had to settle for a unanimous decision victory, while Arlovski fell to 0-5 in his last five fights.

See how Twitter reacted to UFC Singapore below:

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Holly Holm Shatters Bethe Correia With Thunderous Head Kick

Finally, in our main event of the evening here at UFC Fight Night 111 from Singapore, former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm takes on former 135-pound title challenger Bethe Correia. Round 1: Both women not really throwing anything early on as they both seem to want to counter strike. Holm then lands a couple of […]

Finally, in our main event of the evening here at UFC Fight Night 111 from Singapore, former UFC bantamweight champion Holly Holm takes on former 135-pound title challenger Bethe Correia. Round 1: Both women not really throwing anything early on as they both seem to want to counter strike. Holm then lands a couple of […]