Holly Holm wanted to be more exciting at UFC 246, still eyes UFC title

LAS VEGAS – Holly Holm recognizes her fight at UFC 246 wasn’t the most exciting.

A the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Holm (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) defeated Raquel Pennington in a rematch of their 2015 meeting at UFC 184.

Like many viewers, the three-round unanimous decision victory for Holm didn’t live up to her self-imposed excitement standards. The New Mexico native partially tacks that up to the style Pennington (10-8 MMA, 7-8 UFC) tried to impose.

“I always want to do more, and I always want to be more exciting,” Holm said post-fight. “I always want a knockout and to show a (good) performance and all that. Obviously, I always look back and wish I could have done this or that. With that being said, she’s also one of those really scrappy fighters. She can kind of make a fight look messy.”

On multiple occasions during the 15-minute co-main event, fans in attendance at T-Mobile Arena voiced their displeasure. Holm didn’t notice many boos, as she was focused on the task at hand – though she did hear some. If you take her at her word, Holm isn’t bothered by jeers.

“I’ve heard boos,” Holm said. “I didn’t hear much tonight, but I did hear a couple. Usually the people booing aren’t the ones doing this for a job, so it doesn’t really bother me. I don’t understand everything everyone does in their job, so I’m not going to criticize it. It really doesn’t bother me.

“I don’t do this for anybody. I do it for myself. I try to make the people around me proud of me. I want to do things like that. I want to make them proud. I love that I have fans and I always want to give them the best show I can. Sometimes, I fall short of that. It just keeps me driven to want to move forward and keep getting better.”

Since losing her title to Miesha Tate in 2016, Holm has thrice fought for UFC gold. She’s come up short each time, losing to Germaine de Randamie, Cris Cyborg and, most recently, Amanda Nunes. Just because a title shot against Nunes would be a rematch, doesn’t mean it’s impossible – according to Holm.

“When I say I want a title shot, it’s whatever path it is to get there,” Holm said. “That’s the goal. When I first started MMA, everybody said, ‘What are you doing?’ It’s like, ‘I want to be a champion in both boxing and MMA.’ I want to do it.

“A lot of people are like, ‘Why are you starting a whole new career at 29? You’re almost 30. You think you can go and make this whole new career?’ Well, I’m still 38 now. I’m still ready to go. I know I’m stronger than the girls in my weight class. I know that I’m in shape and I’m healthy. I know I can do more.”

UFC 246 took place Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

Check out Holly Holm’s full post-fight news conference in the video above.