Holly Holm's entire life changed when she knocked out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, and that fact wasn't lost on her. As soon as referee Herb Dean waved the fight to a close, the Preacher's Daughter was beside herself with emotion, and that didn't change when she made her way to the back.
Not long after Holm reached the dressing room, she sat down for her first interview as UFC women's bantamweight champion, and she was unable to hide how much that 12-pound belt means to her. When asked how it felt to take the belt to her coaches and family by Fox Sports 1 post-fight show anchorman (and UFC light heavyweight champion) Daniel Cormier, she barely managed to contain excitement.
"I can't even explain how blessed I am and how fortunate that I have such a great team that believes in me," she said (h/t to MMAMania.com for the transcription). "You know, just walking out there...it's us anyway. We're the ones doing it. I'm the one that has to fight, and they're the ones that are giving me the advice, and that's what it comes down to."
Rousey managed to single-handedly attract an unprecedented number of fans to the sport of MMA, and those loyalists were no doubt disappointed by the major upset. Still, it's hard not to buy into Holm, both as a fighter and a person.
The win over Rousey was as impressive as it was surprising. Holm crafted and executed the perfect game plan to deal with Rousey, tagging her with strikes while staying nimble and avoiding almost any kind of grappling exchange. While there were a couple of scares in the first round, Holm made it to the second and managed to rock a frustrated Rousey with a left hand, then put her to sleep with a head kick.
It was a devastating sequence that shocked the world. Holm, though, isn't especially concerned with the doubters. "It doesn't matter what odds are on paper or what's happened before," she said. "It matters what happens that moment."
While Holm winning once was undeniably impressive, she will almost certainly be tasked with doing it again. Buckle up for the announcement of a rematch in the coming weeks and months. UFC 200 could be a possible landing spot for the sure-to-be-huge Holm vs. Rousey 2.
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