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Fightweets: What does Holly Holm do from here?
- Updated: July 30, 2016
“Ruthless” Robbie Lawler is back in action this weekend, which seems to be just the jolt of adrenaline needed for those who have been worn down by the endless drumbeat of talk about USADA, fighters unions, the UFC sale, and pretty much everything in the fight game except fighting.
So we’ll talk about Lawler’s title defense against Tyron Woodley at UFC 201, the ramifications of Holly Holm’s loss to Valentina Shevchenko last weekend, and yeah, we’ll touch upon that other stuff, too. So let’s get started …
Where from here for Holly Holm?
@love_life7474: What’s next 4 Holm? Reports say viewer numbers were great but w/ the recent losses will the UFC keep her n play?
Holly Holm’s past year has been like a case study in how quickly conventional wisdom shifts in this sport, and how knee-jerk reactions so often carry the day. This time last summer, she was coming off a pair of less-than-overwhelming decision victories in the UFC and was deemed someone who was still a prospect — one who might compete for the bantamweight title one day, but not yet there. Then she controversially got the shot at Ronda Rousey’s title ahead of Miesha Tate and was thought to simply have a puncher’s chance. Then she absolutely clobbered Rousey, and was suddenly transformed in the public into an unbeatable superwoman who just happened to be a really nice person when she wasn’t throwing head kicks. Then she lost the belt to Tate in an upset and was branded MMA’s equivalent to Buster Douglas. Now, after a loss to Valentina Shevchenko, Holm is being called over the hill … just a year after she was branded as still a work in progress.
It all gets a little dizzying after awhile. If Holm has done anything over the past year and change, she’s become the baseline around which you can demonstrate just how deep the WBW division has become, just how much parity there is in the top tier of competitors, and just how quickly the women’s 135-pound class has matured. Yes, Holm is really, really good. Yes, she has flaws, just like everyone else in the division. But the losses suffered by Rousey, Holm, and Tate don’t turn them into frauds. Amanda Nunes is really good, too, and so is Valentina Shevchenko, and we’ll find out sooner rather than later where Juliana Pena rates on this list, too.
As for Holm, the answer in the immediate aftermath is simply one of going back to the drawing board. Holly does great picking apart fighters who come straight at her, but Shevhenko’s patient counter attacks gave her fits. She’ll have to do something about that. The good news is, Holm has been an adaptable fighter and she has elite trainers. She also has a fan following, as evidenced by UFC on FOX 20’s strong ratings. Holm would do well to take a page out of Tate’s book: Tate’s enduring popularity is in large part due to her ability to pick herself back up after a big loss and get right …
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