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Holly Holm: 4 Reasons She’s Your Next UFC Bantamweight Champion

By Aric Mitchell
Published on: 17:27 PST, Jul 19, 2016

Holly Holm appeared on the UFC Unfiltered podcast this week to discuss her loss to Miesha Tate and her upcoming bout with Valentina Shevchenko this weekend.

In typical fashion for the former boxing and UFC champion — who only possesses one loss on her record — Holm took the questions head-on, expressing disappointment in herself for losing the title on her first defense.

The interview also demonstrated why Holly cannot be ruled out in the highly competitive, topsy turvy world of women’s MMA.

(After all, the belt has changed hands in three consecutive fights following the loss of Tate to Amanda Nunes at UFC 200.)

Here are four reasons that Holly Holm is likely your next women’s UFC Bantamweight Champion.

1. She knows how to lose and bounce back.

In the interview with Jim Norton and Matt Serra, Holly discussed the two biggest losses of her career — firstly, the most recent to Tate and secondly, the most devastating to Anne Sophie Mathis.

Of the Tate fight — one she was winning on all scorecards going into the fifth round — Holly said that she briefly lost consciousness and when she came to, she could hear the crowd and knew she’d been beaten.

While it was the highest profile loss of her career, it was not as painful of a defeat as when Mathis knocked her unconscious and left her body bent in two over a ring rope in 2011.

In the Mathis case, Holm bounced back with a unanimous decision victory over Mathis in her very next fight.

Under questioning of Norton, she refused to look past Shevchenko, who fought Nunes to a decision loss in one of her most recent bouts.

2. Holly Holm takes nothing personally.

While some fighters wish ill on the competitors who beat them, Holly wanted Miesha to win the Nunes fight, stating that if someone beats her, “I don’t want them to ever lose again because it means that I am just that awesome.”

3. She looks past no one.

“I definitely want to come back and hate to lose,” she said. “The only thing that makes it feel better is to have a victory. Yeah, I lost the fight, but I don’t want to feel like I have been defeated in life. It makes me want to push forward and do better but yeah, it leaves a sour taste in my mouth. I don’t want that, and it could happen this coming weekend, which would be extra sour or it could feel like yes, I got that victory back.”

Coincidentally, she refused to entertain the rematch with Ronda questions or even wanting revenge on Miesha, stating that if she doesn’t win this one — against Shevchenko — then there may be no more high-profile fights.

4. Holly Holm really is just one fight away from another title shot.

In wrestling speak, the UFC Bantamweight Championship is a belt that has been “hot-shotted” over the last year, now on its fourth champion since November.

That makes it difficult for a clearcut number one contender to emerge. While Julianna Pena definitely has a claim after her dominant victory over Cat Zingano, the winner between her and Nunes — if that fight happens — would need a contender.

With Ronda Rousey’s comeback nowhere in the foreseeable future and Miesha needing a rebuilding fight before she can lay claim to another shot — and with Shevchenko’s solid-but-failing performance against Nunes, a Holly Holm victory over Shevchenko would position her nicely for a one-on-one with the winner between Nunes and her next opponent.

Given that Holly Holm is a fighter with a history of learning and growing from her mistakes, she would be especially dangerous in a future title fight.

But what do you think, readers?

Will Holly Holm get the belt back soon? Sound off in the comments section.

[Image via UFC]

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