Meet Holly Holm: The woman who defeated Ronda Rousey.

UPDATE… 

American UFC fighter Holly Holm shocked the world on Sunday when she defeated reigning champion Ronda Rousey at Etihad Stadium in a historic victory that has shocked the fighting world.

Rousey – who has become one of the sporting world’s biggest names over the last year – was labelled emotional by Holm’s coach Mike Winkeljohn following the fight.

“Ronda is an emotional fighter and she has overwhelmed people with that pressure and it’s worked for her in the past,” Winkeljohn said.

“It’s just Holly is at another level when it comes to intellect.”

Following the victory, Holm told reporters that her poise and confidence in the ring was not always a persona that she embodied during training, saying that she had to overcome self doubt in the lead up to the fight.

“There were days I got to the gym, didn’t perform well, sat in my car, cried and though ‘You know what, if I perform like that, that’s not going to get me the win,” Holms said.

“So I’ve got to come back tonight and perfect those things. So there were moments in your mind when you doubt yourself. There were mental moments up and down through your training camp that you have to overcome.”

Mamamia originally wrote… 

One of the biggest fights of the year is happening on Sunday. In Melbourne. And it’s between two very tough, strong and talented women.

Ronda Rousey will be taking on Holly Holm in a UFC 193 fight at Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium on Sunday. The series of 13 fights will kick off just after 10am.

It’s looking like there’ll be a crowd of 60, 000 (or more) people and it will be broadcast on television.

It’s the first time in UFC history that four women will be headlining the event. Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Valerie Letourneau will be the stars in Melbourne this weekend.

We’ve heard a lot about Ronda Rousey, one of the biggest names in the world for professional sport. Leading up to this fight she’s been splashed across media outlets everywhere.

And rightly so.

She’s a champion. A legend. A great role model for girls and women the world over. I don’t want to take away from that. But what I do want to do is introduce you to her opponent – Holly Holm.

Holm is from New Mexico. She holds multiple world boxing champions. She is undefeated with a 9-0 record under her name. For the fight on Sunday, the 34-year-old is the underdog against 28-year-old Rousey.

Other fighters like Raquel Pennington, who has fought Holm in the past doesn’t think she’ll take the belt from Rousey.

“Holly does have pretty good takedown defense as far as wrestling, but with Ronda coming from a judo background, that’s a whole different ball game. It will be interesting to see how they match up. With Ronda being the athlete that she is, I definitely think she will pull the win out,” she told MMAjunkie.

See the staredown between Rousey and Holm (Post continues after the video)…

However, Pennington added that Holm definitely has the skills to make it Rousey’s most challening fight of her career. She said Holm has great footwork.

Holm holds mutliple world titles in boxing. She’s been ranked number one in different organisations at numerous time. She’s ranked number one in multiple weight classes too. She is currently ranked number seven in the world for women’s bantamweight.

The 34-year-old started cardio kickboxing when she was 16. A year later she started sparring and then began to compete. Her first fight was when she was 18 and she has been in love with the sport ever since.

There’s no arguing that Holm has a tough fight ahead of her tomorrow. Rousey will be fighting to defend her UFC batamweight belt. But both women are strong and talented world athletes. We’re sure the fight will be a good one.

You can watch it on Fox Sports. If you want a break down of the rules adn regulations of UFC fighting go here.

And in other sporting news this week…

Our women’s soccer team The Matildas assembled in Canberra this week for a four-day camp, ahead of February’s Olympic qualifier.
The Matildas are a 23 strong squad, including 15-year-old Western Sydney Wanderers defender Ellie Carpenter. The team will play a friendly against Korea in Incheon later this month.

2000 Olympic Golden Girl Cathy Freeman has been awarded the International Olympic Committee’s Women and Sport award for the Oceania region for her works through her foundation, the Cathy Freeman Foundation (CFF). The prestigious award recognises special individuals working to develop and encourage women’s and girl’s participation in sport at all levels. The CFF is currently working with 1600 Indigenous children and their families across remote communities to deliver programs covering the complete journey of a child’s education.

Shelley Watts, made sporting history in 2014 when she deferred a near-finished law degree to become the first Australian female boxer to take home a gold medal from the Commonwealth games. Now, her sights are set on Rio where she could go head to head with London Olympics champion, Ireland’s Katie Taylor.

What sport have you been playing or watching this week?