Holly Holm seemingly returned to form with a dominating win over the weekend. Following the fight, she reflected on her gameplan going in, and what this win means for her moving forward.
A lot of people had seemed to write off Holm, heading into last weekend’s main event against Irene Aldana. She had failed to recapture the glory of her highlight win against Ronda Rousey, coming up short in numerous subsequent title fights. Regardless of the opinions of some, Holly completely dominated Irene from pillar to post, outpointing the young up and coming fighter to win a unanimous decision.
Holly Holm Wanted To Dominate Irene Aldana
In her previous few fights, Holly Holm had shown an increased skill on the ground, but she kicked this into overdrive in this fight. She landed five of fourteen takedown attempts, getting Aldana to the ground in every single round. Speaking with Ariel Helwani after the fight, she explained that she was not necessarily playing with her food, but wanted to show that she was better than Irene in every way.
“You never know what they’re going to come with,” Holm explained. “I know I’d done five rounds more than her so then there’s that ‘Is she pacing herself? Is she going to come hard in rounds four and five?’ because anything can happen. Any punch can be the end of the fight, so I definetly wasn’t like ‘oh I’ve got this.’ I did feel like ‘You know what, I’ve got her timing, I do feel better in the clinch, I feel confident in stand-up, clinch, and ground. So just keep going and let the fight go.’
“I didn’t want to force a takedown. I did kind of — I didn’t force it but I was like ‘I want to take her down. I want to take her down again. You know what, I think I’m going to try and take her down every round,'” Holm laughed. “I just wanted to be dominating. Not because I was playing around with it, but I wanted to show domination in every way.”
As previously stated, Holly Holm was somewhat written off by people who were looking past her in this fight. She explained that it did not exactly bother her that people wanted to see the fresh new thing. However she wanted to remind everyone that she is still just as hungry as younger fighters.
“I definitely think that people were saying ‘Aldana’s the new thing, this is exciting, let’s see this happen,’ and I’m like there’s the new thing, and then there’s, you know, old stubborn,” Holm said, pointing to herself. “So there’s two ways you can look at it. People are like ‘Oh they’re young, they’re hungry.’ You’re not only hungry when you’re young. I’m still doing this for a reason, because I’m still hungry.”
After a win and a performance like that, nobody can doubt that Holly Holm is still hungry for another crack at the title. Now riding a winning streak, she seems primed for a number one contender’s fight, and if successful there, then she will get her wish.
