Former UFC champion who beat Ronda Rousey with brutal KO quits and could change careers
Former UFC champion Holly Holm has left the promotion and is now a free agent. Holm’s victory over Ronda Rousey in 2015 is one of the greatest upsets in UFC history. Holm scored one of the most famous KO’s in UFC history against RouseyGetty But lost her belt soon after on the undercard of Conor McGregor vs Nate Diaz Rousey was a dominant figure in the promotion at the time, with a 12-0 undefeated record, having dispatched many of her previous opponent with relative ease. She had won five of her six UFC title bouts in the first round, with three of those coming by way of knockout. However, in the second round of their fight at UFC 193, Holm, now 43, produced an incredible head kick that knocked Rousey out cold and secured her gold in Dana White‘s promotion for the first time. “Holly Holm has parted ways with the UFC and is now a free agent,” MMA journalist Ariel Helwani revealed on X. “She had two fights left on her deal, asked to explore other opportunities and the UFC obliged. “She plans on continuing to fight and is open to MMA or boxing, her long-time agent Lenny Fresquez tells me.” Holm was inducted into the Boxing International Hall of Fame in 2022 following a decorated in-ring run that witnessed her become a three-weight world champion. In total, she made 16 title defences across a 38-fight career in the sport. Holm made her full-time transition to MMA in 2013 and her victory against Rousey – to capture the UFC women’s bantamweight title – two years later was just her third bout in the promotion. She lost her bantamweight title to Miesha Tate four months after, but remained a top contender in both her championship winning division and the featherweight class. The Albuquerque, New Mexico, native unsuccessfully challenged for UFC titles three more times following her 2016 loss to Tate, which included a first-round defeat to Amanda Nunes. Holm racked up a 33-2 pro boxing record between 2002 and 2013GETTY Holm then endured a mixed bag of results leading up to what has now been determined her last bout in White’s promotion at UFC 300. The former bantamweight champion suffered a dominant submission loss against promotional newcomer Kayla Harrison at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in April last year. During his post-fight press conference, White suggested that it was time for Holm to walk away from her Hall of Fame fight career after losing to a potentially ‘jittery’ opponent. “I don’t care what level Kayla Harrison has competed at, I guarantee you she had some serious jitters tonight,” the UFC CEO said. Holm responded at the time, saying she had no plans to retire following the defeat and sent a defiant message to anyone suggesting she should quit MMA. Holm was dominated by Harrison at UFC 300Getty “Well, none of that went how I had envisioned over the last ten weeks of this training camp,” Holm said in a video shared to her Instagram page. “I have no excuses. I had all the best coaching, the best teammates, the best sparring, all the help I could have even dreamed of asking for. “I went out there and I lost all focus on the game plan. I did nothing that we trained for in this fight. All the respect to Kayla, she was the better fighter tonight. “I just know I’m capable of more than that. I’m one of those that likes to self-reflect rather than run from things. I think honesty with yourself can sometimes be the hardest thing. “I’m healthy. My heart hurts, my ego hurts. But I just wanted to say thank you to all the fans that have always stood by my side and of course, my team, my coaches, my family, my friends. “Much love to everybody, I appreciate you. I’ll be back.” There is no doubt Holm will have plenty of opportunities come her way due to her iconic fighting career. The Global Fight League (GFL) – a brand-new MMA promotion launching this year – is one likely destination. GFL have already announced former UFC champion Tyron Woodley has signed to their promotion, as well as other ex-UFC stars such as Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis, Luke Rockhold and Alexander Gustafsson. The promotion will feature six teams across four continents, with venues booked in 10 cities worldwide. Each team will consist of 20 fighters across 10 weight classes, a unique feature of the GFL, as all bouts will reportedly operate under a catchweight system.
Former UFC champion Holly Holm has left the promotion and is now a free agent.
Holm’s victory over Ronda Rousey in 2015 is one of the greatest upsets in UFC history.
Rousey was a dominant figure in the promotion at the time, with a 12-0 undefeated record, having dispatched many of her previous opponent with relative ease.
She had won five of her six UFC title bouts in the first round, with three of those coming by way of knockout.
However, in the second round of their fight at UFC 193, Holm, now 43, produced an incredible head kick that knocked Rousey out cold and secured her gold in Dana White‘s promotion for the first time.
“Holly Holm has parted ways with the UFC and is now a free agent,” MMA journalist Ariel Helwani revealed on X.
“She had two fights left on her deal, asked to explore other opportunities and the UFC obliged.
“She plans on continuing to fight and is open to MMA or boxing, her long-time agent Lenny Fresquez tells me.”
Holm was inducted into the Boxing International Hall of Fame in 2022 following a decorated in-ring run that witnessed her become a three-weight world champion.
In total, she made 16 title defences across a 38-fight career in the sport.
Holm made her full-time transition to MMA in 2013 and her victory against Rousey – to capture the UFC women’s bantamweight title – two years later was just her third bout in the promotion.
She lost her bantamweight title to Miesha Tate four months after, but remained a top contender in both her championship winning division and the featherweight class.
The Albuquerque, New Mexico, native unsuccessfully challenged for UFC titles three more times following her 2016 loss to Tate, which included a first-round defeat to Amanda Nunes.
Holm then endured a mixed bag of results leading up to what has now been determined her last bout in White’s promotion at UFC 300.
The former bantamweight champion suffered a dominant submission loss against promotional newcomer Kayla Harrison at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in April last year.
During his post-fight press conference, White suggested that it was time for Holm to walk away from her Hall of Fame fight career after losing to a potentially ‘jittery’ opponent.
“I don’t care what level Kayla Harrison has competed at, I guarantee you she had some serious jitters tonight,” the UFC CEO said.
Holm responded at the time, saying she had no plans to retire following the defeat and sent a defiant message to anyone suggesting she should quit MMA.
“Well, none of that went how I had envisioned over the last ten weeks of this training camp,” Holm said in a video shared to her Instagram page.
“I have no excuses. I had all the best coaching, the best teammates, the best sparring, all the help I could have even dreamed of asking for.
“I went out there and I lost all focus on the game plan. I did nothing that we trained for in this fight. All the respect to Kayla, she was the better fighter tonight.
“I just know I’m capable of more than that. I’m one of those that likes to self-reflect rather than run from things. I think honesty with yourself can sometimes be the hardest thing.
“I’m healthy. My heart hurts, my ego hurts. But I just wanted to say thank you to all the fans that have always stood by my side and of course, my team, my coaches, my family, my friends.
“Much love to everybody, I appreciate you. I’ll be back.”
There is no doubt Holm will have plenty of opportunities come her way due to her iconic fighting career.
The Global Fight League (GFL) – a brand-new MMA promotion launching this year – is one likely destination.
GFL have already announced former UFC champion Tyron Woodley has signed to their promotion, as well as other ex-UFC stars such as Fabricio Werdum, Anthony Pettis, Luke Rockhold and Alexander Gustafsson.
The promotion will feature six teams across four continents, with venues booked in 10 cities worldwide.
Each team will consist of 20 fighters across 10 weight classes, a unique feature of the GFL, as all bouts will reportedly operate under a catchweight system.
