Holly Holm Is Unfazed By Ronda Rousey’s Mind Games Days Before ‘UFC 193: Rousey Vs. Holm’

Just days from now, MMA bantamweight fighter Holly Holm will take on her biggest challenge yet as she fights Ronda Rousey for the UFC women’s championship. Given the fact that Rousey is not only a champion but also an undefeated MMA warrior who has mostly decimated all of her opponents in the first round, Holm should be frazzled for the upcoming fight. Apparently, that is not a reality for Holm who remains content.

As a matter of fact, Holly Holm is so secure in herself that she is standing firm in the face of one of Rousey’s most powerful fighter tactics: mind games. We can even go as far as to say that “The Preacher’s Daughter” seems to be unfazed.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Ronda Rousey utilized her age-old method of getting into the heads of her opponents by claiming she would not just defeat Holly Holm, but she’ll also do it in boxing. It is a tactic “Rowdy” has delivered on too. She out-wrestled Sara McMann, an Olympic silver medalist in wrestling. She finished Cat Zingano, who is known for killer finishes, in 14 seconds. Finally, she knocked out Bethe Correia, who is known for her hard hitting, in less than a minute.

However, Holly Holm isn’t a newbie to the mind games combat sports presents. She is using her numerous years of experience in boxing to keep cool under pressure. Also, the fact of the matter is that Holm knows Ronda Rousey being able to outbox her is a long shot. Holm has a lifetime of experience backing her abilities, proven by her professional boxing record of 23-2-3. Summarized, Rousey has much of a chance beating Holm in a boxing match as much as Holm has a chance defeating Rousey in a judo match (something Holm understands as shown in avoiding ground game in past UFC fights).

Being able to differentiate Ronda Rousey’s mind games (which includes claiming she’ll do more touristy things in Australia after she beats Holm and possibly her feature in The Ring Magazine) from truth is working well for Holly Holm. She even followed up with her own words pertaining to Rousey’s tactics, taking them in stride.

“I don’t know how much she really wants to box,” Holm said. “And how much she just wants to play little mind games and the psychology of making people do what she wants to do.”

Though Holly Holm has not said anything on the matter, Ronda Rousey claimed she really doesn’t want to be champion and she wouldn’t enjoy a champion’s life. According to KFBK News Radio however, Holm is a former champion in boxing who even retired from boxing as champion when she pursued a career in MMA. Ergo, Holm has lived a champion’s life per se.

Despite Holly Holm’s solid stance against Ronda Rousey’s adversity, the MMA community believe she stands no chance in her upcoming fight. Holm understands how the whole world can be against her too as she blocks them all of. She instead continues to train at Jackson’s, the same MMA camp that has trained the likes of Jon Jones, Carlos Condit, and Donald Cerrone. In conclusion, Holm is keeping grounded as she plans to go into her fight against Rousey without expectations of anything specific from the champion.

“I don’t want to go into the fight thinking, ‘She’s going to come out with this, so I’m going to throw this.’ A fight is unpredictable. That’s why people love to watch fights. You don’t know what’s going to happen. So, I want to go in with kind of an open-ended plan and be able to adjust along the way.”

Holly Holm will fight for a chance to become the UFC women’s bantamweight champion at UFC 193: Rousey vs. Holm. It will take place on Saturday, November 15, 2015, at the Ethiad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.

[Photo by Harry How/Getty Images]