Name: Holly Holm
Nickname: “The Preacher’s Daughter”
Record: 7-0
Division: Bantamweight
Affiliation: Team Jackson-Winkeljohn
Holm isn’t your typical prospect.
The 33-year-old amassed a 33-2-3 record and 18 titles as a professional boxer from 2002 to May 11, 2013 when she beat Mary McGee in the final bout of her career, but she’s just 7-0 as a mixed martial artist over the last four years and makes her Octagon debut this weekend, so by those measures, she’s not much different than plenty of other UFC neophytes that have been profiled in this space and earned the “prospect” tag.
As you would expect of someone with her boxing background, striking is Holm’s greatest asset and she’s been working with one of the best in the business, Mike Winkeljohn, for the duration of her career. Though her hands are excellent, they’re not her only weapon, as you can see from the pad session with Coach Wink that is featured in the debut episode of Embedded below. Holm’s segment begins at the 5:36 mark.
Holm has powerful kicks to go along with her quick hands, plus outstanding footwork and conditioning, all of which contributes to the tremendous amount of hype that has followed her since she committed herself full-time to MMA in 2013. The fact that she’s a southpaw and has a wealth of experience in the spotlight, on the big stage also stack up as big positives for the Albuquerque native as well given that injuries have led to her bout with Raquel Pennington moving into the co-main event position on this weekend’s UFC 184 fight card.
That’s the kind of thing that could potential derail a young fighter or even an experienced UFC newcomer, but the spotlight and increased media attention is nothing new for Holm. The scale might be larger and the spotlight a little more intense, but it shouldn’t be anything she can’t handle this week.
Fight Prediction: This fight was originally supposed to take place last December at UFC 181, but an injury to Holm forced it to be pushed back to this card.
Pennington makes for a perfect first opponent for Holm in the UFC as she’s a somewhat familiar name to fight fans having been on Season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter and made two additional appearances on the preliminary portion of pay-per-view events since beating Roxanne Modaferri on the TUF 18 Finale. The Colorado native has a tendency to get into battles on the feet, even though she considers herself more of a grappler and submission fighter, which could prove costly given that she’s sharing the cage with a multiple-time world champion boxer.
As much as Holm is a striker, don’t think for a second that she can’t wrestle well enough to keep things standing. You don’t spend as much time training with the all-star cast of fighters and coaches that comprise Team Jackson-Winkeljohn without learning how to defend a shot, pummel for positioning along the fence and get back to a standing position if need be. While she’s not going to be searching for takedowns of her own or working for chokes if the fight does go to the ground, Holm should make Pennington earn any takedowns she does get and be able to stay out of any real significant trouble if she does end up on the canvas.
On the feet, it’s not even close – Holm is instantly the best striker in the women’s bantamweight division; a dangerous combination of quick, crisp, technical boxing, heavy kicks and sparkling fundamentals.
Long-Term Prospects: We may not actually have to talk long term as there is a very real possibility that a standout performance on Saturday will vault Holm into a championship bout with Ronda Rousey, who headlines this weekend’s pay-per-view against Cat Zingano.
The UFC women’s bantamweight champ has been steamrolling everyone that has shared the cage with her to date, sticking around beyond the first round once and needing a combined 82 seconds to dispatch Sara McMann and Alexis Davis last year. Should she retain her title and remain unbeaten through Saturday night, elevating Holm to the top of the list of challengers and pitting her against Rousey later this year might be the biggest fight the UFC could make, save for the much-discussed bout between Rousey and Cris Cyborg that has failed to materialize over the last four years.
Given the dearth of marquee match-ups available for Rousey at this time, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the UFC keep Holm out of any truly dangerous fights if she’s not fast-tracked to a title shot. Why throw her into the cage with Miesha Tate and risk her getting controlled on the ground for 15 minutes when you don’t have to? One more fight against someone that is willing to test their hands against her (Jessica Eye?) would be make her a title contender, provided she wins, and keeps the UFC from squandering an asset.
This fight with Pennington on Saturday will go a long way to determining how quickly Holm will climb the ladder and arrive at a championship opportunity. If she comes out and delivers an electric performance, a title shot could follow. If she struggles, but wins, a favourable Top 10 match-up might be next. If she loses, the journey to the top becomes that much longer.
But chances are she won’t lose.
