Saturday night Holly Holm attempts to win her second title in UFC in her second weight division. It will be against an opponent, Germaine de Randamie, who is taller than her, which is new territory for Holm in MMA.
“She’s really tough,” he said on FS1’s “UFC Tonight” tonight. “This is the first time in MMA I’ll be fighting someone taller and bigger than me. She has a strong Muay Thai clinch game. I’m ready for it. She’s tough. I know I’ve worked very hard and I’m ready to go.”
The benefit of moving up a weight division isn’t just the chance to win a second championship in a second weight division, it’s avoiding the difficult process of cutting as much weight before a fight. “I feel good,” he said. “I’m only three pounds heavier than when I’m trying to make 135. It’ll be an easy cut and I won’t have to cut as much water weight.”
For Holm, winning a second championship is a goal, but not the end. “I will feel like I’ve done something that no other fighter has done and will be proud of it,” she said. “But I always stretch for more. There will be other opportunities after that and I don’t want to feel like I’ve done it all.”
One of those challenges could be facing Cyborg, whom many consider the unofficial incumbent champion based on her track record. Holm anticipates that possibility down the line. “That’s the biggest challenge in this weight class,” she said. “Cyborg has blown through the division.”
She also would like to avenge her loss to the now-retired Miesha Tate. “To get the belt back and to avenge the loss, those are two different fights,” she said. “I’d love to avenge the loss. Miesha understands that. She’s one of the pioneers of the sport. It’d be awesome to avenge that loss, but only if that person is into it. That makes it a pure fight.”
The latest betting lines have shifted to favoring Germaine de Randamie after Holm was an early favorite.
Watch the complete Holly Holm FS1 interview HERE.
Keller’s Analysis: On “The Fix with Todd Martin” Torch VIP podcast earlier today, MMA analyst Todd Martin sees the fight this way: “I think Germaine’s kickboxing is more adaptable in MMA than Holms’s boxing and she’s bigger. Holms is probably a better overall fighter, but it’s a bad style match-up for her. The people who have beat Germaine have grounded her and avoided striking her, but that’s Holm’s forte as well, so it’s hard for me to imagine her avoiding that.”
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