Holly Holm is open to what, or whom, might be next for her following her main event victory over Irene Aldana, including a familiar foe.
At UFC on ESPN 16, Holly Holm turned in a dominant performance in her shutout decision victory over Irene Aldana in the main event. As a woman who knows what it takes to reach the top of the division, she has a full understanding of what her next moves will be if she wants to get there again.
“I’m going to keep working hard,” Holm said in the post-fight press conference. “That’s what I’m going to do. I know (Amanda Nunes) got a lot doing on right now, with another fight already scheduled. There’s some tough girls coming up. I feel like the 135-pound division’s always pretty stacked, so I’m not going to set my sights on something too hard. I’m going to let the opportunity come and the next fight after the next fight. And whatever that may be, I’m going to put my heart and soul into it and do it again.”
Holly Holm is now on a two-fight winning streak and has won three of her last four fights. Her last defeat came to the champion herself, Amanda Nunes, at UFC 239 last year. As Holm patiently works her way to a potential rematch against Nunes, there is another rematch that she may need to have in order to get there, that being against Germaine de Randamie, who defeated Holm via unanimous decision for the featherweight championship in 2017.
“That’s definitely an option,” Holm said of de Randamie. “I think everybody probably thought her and I might meet up again in there, so we’ll see what happens. We’ll see where it goes from here.”
De Randamie was also victorious at UFC on ESPN 16 by turning in the first submission victory of her career over Julianna Pena. With de Randamie showing that she is more than a kickboxer and Holm mixing in grappling more and more consistently in her bouts, fight fans can expect to see two different fighters from those who competed back in 2017 if this rematch is made.
What do you think should be next for Holly Holm following her UFC on ESPN 16 victory?
