Holly Holm releases statement following UFC 300 loss to Kayla Harrison

Former women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm put up little resistance to Kayla Harrison‘s dominance at UFC 300 on Saturday.  

Harrison, a two-time Olympic Gold medalist, made her promotional debut on the historic fight card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.  Holm was ranked fifth at the time and Harrison thoroughly dominated her.  The fight ended in the second round when Holm was forced to tap out to a rear-naked choke.  

Holm released a video statement following the one-sided defeat on social media.  “A little broken hearted but never broken. These are the moments we dream of etching in our legacy, a dream I failed to reach. Thank you all for the love,” Holm wrote accompanying the video.  

“Well, none of that went how I envisioned over the last ten weeks of this training camp,” Holm said in the video.  “I have no excuses.  I had all the best coaching, the best teammates, the best sparring, all the help that I could have even dreamed of asking for and I went out there and I lost all focus on the game plan.  I did nothing that we trained for in this fight.

“And all the respect to Kayla.  She was the better fighter that night.  I just know that I’m capable of more than that, and I’m one of those that like to self reflect rather than run from things.  I think honesty with yourself can be sometimes the hardest thing, but I’m healthy.  My heart hurts.  My ego hurts.  But I just want to say thank you to all the fans who have always stood by my side and of course my team, coaches, family, and my friends.  Much love to everybody.  I appreciate you, and I’ll be back.”    

View the original article to see embedded media.

UFC CEO Dana White wasn’t so sure that he wants to see Holm back in the octagon during the UFC 300 Post-Fight Press Conference.  “I would love to see Holly retire,” said White.    

The 42-year-old Holm has basically lost three of her last four fights.  Her submission loss to Mayra Bueno Silva was later ruled a no contest after Bueno Silva tested positive to a banned substance, so she’s technically 1-2, 1 NC in her last four bouts.