Rehabbing Holm hopes to fight in 2016

Former UFC champion says recovery from broken left thumb is on schedule

Holly Holm now can make a fist with her injured left hand, and she’s eager to use it. The Albuquerque MMA fighter, in an interview with Ariel Helwani on the “MMA Hour,” said her rehab from the broken thumb suffered in her loss in July to Valentina Shevchenko is on schedule. She hopes to be back in the octagon before the year is out. There really wasn’t a lot of news in her 18-minute interview with Helwani. Holm, who turned 35 on Monday, still is annoyed by suggestions that she should have waited for a lucrative rematch with Ronda Rousey rather than defend her newly won UFC bantamweight title against Miesha Tate in March. She lost to Tate by fifth-round submission (rear naked choke), then lost to Shevchenko by unanimous decision. “It drives me crazy,” she said of the criticism. “... Money is not why I fight.” According to an estimate from sportsdaily.com, Holm has made $822,550 in fight purses and bonuses from her five UFC fights. That figure does not include percentages of payper-view profits, sponsorships, etc. Rousey, meanwhile, will finally return to the octagon Dec. 30 — more than 13 months after her loss to Holm — challenging current champion Amanda Nunes. Holm said she’s neither angry nor frustrated to see Rousey get a title shot after not fighting since her loss to Holm in Australia last November. “You know, honestly, I don’t feel like I’m in a spot to say what I want,” she told Helwani. “I didn’t have good performances in my last two fights, so why should I sit here and walk around and say what I deserve? I’ve never done that in my career anyway. I’m curious to watch the fight and see how it turns out, but I’m not by any means pissed off about it or anything. I’ll just have to … I just want to keep training and win whatever fight might come my way, and that’s it.” Holm (10-2) said she’s been sparring at Jackson-Wink MMA — using her right hand only — and is “about 80 percent” ready to use the left hand, as well. BRANDAO: Jackson-Wink featherweight Diego Brandao (20-11) has signed a multifight contract with Fight Nights, a Russian promotional company, the Brazil native announced on Twitter. He’s scheduled to face Russia’s Rasul Mirzaev (17-0) on Dec. 16 in Moscow. Brandao last fought in January, losing by submission (triangle choke) to Brian Ortega on UFC 195 in Las Vegas, Nev. He was released by the UFC in April after his arrest in Albuquerque on felony battery charges stemming from an altercation at a Downtown strip club. Six months later, no formal charges have been filed. KOTC: Albuquerque-based fighters Sidiah Parker and Nicco Montaño won King of the Cage title belts earlier this month in Sloan, Iowa. Both fighters train at FIT-NHB. Parker (16-6), originally from Blanding, Utah, defeated Matt Gabel by first-round TKO (punches) for the KOTC middleweight title. Montaño (3-1), from Durango, Colo., beat Jamie Milanowski by fourth-round TKO (punches) for the women’s flyweight title. King of the Cage will return to Albuquerque on Nov. 26 at the Embassy Suites. BOXING: Eric Martinez, whose Legacy Promotions has staged five boxing cards in the past 17 months, has another scheduled Dec. 3 at Camel Rock Casino north of Santa Fe. Española super bantamweight Tony Valdez (8-5-6, seven knockouts), Martinez’s close friend and the reason Martinez got into the promotion business, is scheduled to fight in the main event. Albuquerque’s Sanchez brothers, featherweight Jason (8-0, four KOs) and junior middleweight José Luís (6-1, two KOs), are on the card, as well. Junior middleweight Jordanne Garcia, a national Junior Olympics champion as an amateur, is scheduled to make her pro debut. No opponents have been named.