Morning Report: Holly Holm doesn’t want her career defined by Ronda Rousey win

When Holly Holm knocked out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, not only did she derail the biggest star in the sport (at that time) in devastating fashion, but she also claimed the UFC women’s bantamweight championship to fulfill her goal of becoming the first person to win titles major titles in both boxing and MMA. But after a rough 2016 which saw her lose the belt and her next fighter, Holm has a new goal: become the first woman to win belts in multiple divisions in the UFC. She’ll get to try this weekend when she fights Germaine de Randamie for the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight belt

Speaking with FOX Sports recently, Holm discussed her upcoming fight and explained that her desire to challenge for this new belt is, in part, because she wants to get out from under the shadow of her previous accomplishment.

“Who doesn’t want to have the chance to make history and it give that extra motivation for it. It’s one of those things, how can you not get excited preparing for something like that? That you can make history. It’s the first belt at that weight and the chance to fight for a second belt in the UFC after coming from boxing. It motivates me for sure...

“I don’t want my whole career to be defined around getting the belt from Ronda. I want my career to be defined by me being the best fighter I can be and accomplishing the biggest things I can, from whatever competition comes in front of me.

“So I want this for me for my career. I don’t want it to just be around the one fight. I want them to remember everything after. I want to be able to do a lot in this career still.”

Rousey’s presence in MMA is still massive and as such, it’s unlikely Holm will ever be able to fully shake the immediate connection between the two. However, a win on Saturday night would do wonders to help. Should Holm win she’ll be only the fourth fighter ever in the UFC to be a champion in multiple divisions. Perhaps even more importantly, she’ll put and end to her current losing streak and get back to her winning ways.

“There’s a lot of pressure,” Holm said. “What is Holly going to do now at 145 coming off two losses? She’s never been here before. She’s coming off the highlight of her career [against Rousey] to two losses in a row. The most unsuccessful year of my entire fighting career.

“There’s this anticipation and curiosity and that’s okay with me. My thought process is just keeping it focused on good. It is pressure. I want to use it as good motivation. Use it as motivation that will make me train hard and get ready.”

As for her most famous adversary, Holm doesn’t know about her motivation or if she’ll ever return because she isn’t Rousey. Rousey is also currently on a two-fight losing streak, but though Holm was the one that started it, she maintains that she didn’t “break” Rousey as some have claimed.

“Who knows if Ronda’s done or not. Maybe she’ll come back in the future. Maybe she just needs a little time to really take time off. I know she had a year off but it was a year off and back into a title fight. I don’t know how much she changed in there with training. I don’t know.

“I think any fighter they can only know for themselves what they really feel, but I guess I don’t really feel like I broke her, but I do know that coming off of the knockout, when I knocked her out, that helped the fight with Nunes go faster if that makes any sense. I don’t mean that in any rude way.”

Holly Holm fights Germaine de Randamie for the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight championship at UFC 208 in Brooklyn, New York this Saturday.

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MEDIA STEW

Embedded 2.

This is a very cool video.

Free fight.

Cung Le talking about Ronda.

The Reem.

Old but seemed pertinent. This is GDR knocking out a guy as part of some Belgian TV show where an actor tried to box or something.

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LISTEN UP

Beatdown.

Severe MMA.

Big Brown Breakdown.

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TWEETS

KK firing back at JJ’s water bottles.

I got Kelvin.

Fight ready.

Looks like Cain is back in the gym.

Anik has started BJJ. Great for him. Sport will change your life.

Memories.

Superhero team up.

Birthdays.

The way the lighting is here, Anderson’s head looks super lumpy.

Congrats.

So Rogan would beat CM Punk right?

I’m gonna count this as MMA.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Marcin Tybura (14-2) vs. Justin Willis (4-1); UFC 208, Feb. 11.

Carrington Banks (6-0) vs. Mihail Nica (5-0); Bellator 176, April 8.

Djamal Chan (12-3) vs. Valeriu Mircea (13-4); Bellator 176, April 8.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Read this great piece by my boy Karim Zidane about how wrestling helped open diplomatic dialogue between the United States and Iran in the ‘90s.

Hope you’re all living good out there. Take it easy and see y’all tomorrow.

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If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy them.