Holm hopes to make MMA history
American could become first woman to win titles in two different weight classes on Saturday night
Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., Holly Holm will take aim at history on two fronts — and yet very few people seem interested in discussing her main-event match with Germaine de Randamie or the exclusive group she could join should she earn a victory at UFC 208.
The women will battle for the distinction of being the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight champion. And if Holm wins, she will join Randy Couture, BJ Penn and Conor McGregor as the only fighters to hold UFC titles in two different weight classes. But instead of asking her about de Randamie and her pursuit of history, the majority of the questions posed to the former bantamweight champ have centred on Ronda Rousey or Cris Cyborg.
“I want to go in, do well and win, and that’s really all there is to it,” said Holm of the onslaught of inquiries connected to Rousey and Cyborg, when speaking with The Province earlier in the week. “I know that they have a lot of other questions and for me, I don’t really care — it’s not like, ‘Oh, it should be about me.’ When all those questions are asked, I just think, ‘Well I’ve got Germaine in front of me.’ “
While the fixation on Rousey and Cyborg is expected, it detracts from the championship fight about to take place and makes its participants appear to be of secondary importance — or tertiary in the case of de Randamie, who has been treated like an also-ran whose story isn’t worth telling in advance of this contest. This despite the fact she’s a decorated kick-boxer with serious power and currently a slight favourite with the bookies.
History is taking a back seat to hypothetical matches and more questions about Rousey’s mental state — because, well, that topic hasn’t been covered enough in recent months and is apparently still of far more interest than a compelling bout between two talented women who are actually going to fight Saturday in Brooklyn.
“There’s a lot that has to happen for a fight with Cyborg to happen because she’s not even fighting right now,” laughed Holm. “I would have to win in order for her to be able to fight me for the championship, so it’s like, ‘OK, you guys want to talk about the Cyborg fight,’ but there is a lot that has to happen in order for us to matchup.”
And a victory at UFC 208 is far from a sure thing for the Albuquerque, N.M., native who won titles in multiple divisions during her boxing career before transitioning to mixed martial arts full-time in mid-2013.
“She’s tough and I already know what I’m up against with her,” Holm said of de Randamie, who enters Saturday’s championship fight off a pair of punishing stoppage wins. “She’s very, very good and has a lot of experience. Everybody says I have a lengthy background in boxing — well she has more Muay Thai fights than I have in boxing, so I know I’m up against somebody who has had a lot of experience.
“I don’t want to overlook that and if I was thinking about a fight with Cyborg, I would be overlooking that. I really am just focused on Germaine.”
While de Randamie has been her focus since the bout was announced, Holm is also very much aware of the historical significance of what she could achieve with a victory on Saturday as her quest to become the first women in UFC to win championship gold in two divisions is just another “never been done before” accomplishment she’s chasing.
“Everything that I’ve always wanted to do in my career is to do something that no other fighter has done,” said Holm.
“When it was boxing, I fought in three different weight classes, almost four — my very last boxing fight, I almost fought at 135 because I had already done a couple MMA fights at 135 and I knew that I could make it. Even when I first went into MMA, it was, ‘I want to be the only fighter that has had championships of the highest in both boxing and MMA,’ and I was able to do that.
“Now, here’s the chance to do something that no female has done in MMA. I always want to do something that nobody has done before and this is my opportunity. That’s motivating for me and I want to make the best of it.”
E. Spencer Kyte covers MMA for The Province and hosts the Keyboard Kimura Podcast. Follow him on Twitter (@spencerkyte) and subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Stitcher.