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On Saturday, the people’s champion Ronda Rousey was up against Holly Holm. As far as the world was concerned, the fight was Rousey’s for the taking and everyone was assuming that Rousey would continue to go undefeated, but then the fight actually came. When Rousey was KO’d by Holm in the second round, the fight was over and the champion was defeated, making Holm the new women’s bantamweight champion and leaving the world to try and pick their jaws up off the ground. Who better to deserve the spotlight this week more than Holm herself?
Holm’s fighting career started during her adolescence where she was involved in sports. In high school, Holm participated in gymnastics, swimming, diving and soccer. Her fighting career would eventually get its start during her aerobics class where her instructor urged her to take his kickboxing class. After seeing how well she did in the class, Mike Winkeljohn would eventually become Holm’s trainer when she decided to become a professional fighter.
Known as the “Preacher’s Daughter”, Holm would eventually join the world of MMA fighting in 2011 and her life would never be the same. While most of her matches have gone unnoticed, Holm has been undefeated in all of them including her most recent bout with Rousey. Of the ten fights, Holm would KO seven of her opponents and the remaining three ended up being decided but all three ending in Holm’s favor. The fight against Rousey is really what is going to keep the eyes on her from now on, though.
One thing that many people don’t realize about Holm is that she has been around a lot longer than Rousey and although she is not as popular, her fame looks like it won’t be slowing down anytime soon. Holm has a lot of respect for Rousey which is rare to see and she even praised Rousey, “Anything that is good for women’s boxing, I’m all for it. I didn’t get upset for it. I was happy for Ronda and I’m glad it got people talking about women’s boxing, to be honest with you.” which is one thing that people don’t seem to get out of Rousey. While Rousey’s is a fighter of the people, Holm would rather sit on the sidelines and wait for the people to come to her. Now she doesn’t really have to worry about that, but as UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion of the world, Holm is certainly about to become the new champion of women’s boxing.
