UFC WOMEN’S BANTAMWEIGHT champion Holly Holm has expressed her sympathy for Ronda Rousey following yesterday’s emotional interview on The Ellen Show.
Rousey admitted that she briefly considered taking her own life in the immediate aftermath of her shock second-round KO defeat to Holm at UFC 193 in November.
The result gave Holm the title, which she’ll defend on 5 March against Miesha Tate. Rousey is expected to face the winner later this year.
“There’s a lot of things around that. When I heard that she said that, for me it’s one of those things that’s like: How do I respond to that?” Holm said at a press conference in her hometown of Albuquerque when asked about Rousey’s comments, Sherdog reports.
“I don’t want to say I’m sorry because I think on a competitive level for me, if somebody was to say they’re sorry after [beating me], it’s like: No, I’m a competitor, I’m not a charity case.
“I feel like that’s something where the best thing is for me not to say anything at all. I don’t want to say that I’m glad that she felt that way and I don’t want to say: Oh I’m so sorry. It’s something I think that you have to dig through on your own. In the long run, she’ll be stronger mentally from it.”
Holm added: “I hurt for her that she feels that way because that’s a very low place. I did have a lot of help around me to where I did not feel that way,” Holm said, referring to her last taste of defeat — a KO loss against Anne Sophie Mattis during her boxing career, which she later avenged.
“People would say: Oh it’s not the end of the world. I was like: Well that’s exactly what it feels like, the end of the world.”
Holm’s title defence against Miesha Tate will be the curtain-raiser for Conor McGregor’s lightweight title bout against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC 196 in 17 days’ time.
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Holm comes across as a very humble,genuine person glad she rocked Rousey.
Holm was excellent both pre and post fight… she carried herself so well even when 99% of the attention and media commentary was about Rondas loss, and not her victory.
Ronda on the other hand… post fight, she had the perfect opportunity to show real character and reverse public opinion of her, but she ran away to hide, behaving exactly like the stereotypical schoolyard bully that got beaten. Ronda seemed so fake on the Ellen interview – almost like she was acting.
Unfortunately Holms persona won’t bring the numbers like Rondas seemed to, but one things sure Holm is an infinitely better role model.
I like Ronda but not once has she congratulated Holly. Holly was the far superior fighter yet all Ronda has said was that she was too tired, had two many things on, 3 title defence in one year etc. While Holly is Champion Ronda will be nowhere near it. Meisha Tate fight should be a good one though.
Why do you like her?
“This is the first time I’m talking to my fans since I lost to Holly Holm in November, which, by the way, was a fight Holly deserved to win,” Rousey said. “And I just wanted to take a minute to sincerely congratulate her”
But sure, why let the truth get in the way if a few green thumbs!
What a disgrace not to congratulate Holm in any way until that buried complement, and to hide away the way she did for so long.
Ronda has been more than happy to continue to stick the knife into her beaten opponents even when they offer their hand.
I’m starting to think that with Ronda the pre-fight animosity might not just be hype to promote a given fight, she actually might just be a pig of a person pretty much all the time.
That moment when Ronda nearly dislocated her hip throwing a heavy left body hook & Holly dodged it. When she got up off that knee & turned round she was beaten already.
When she got up and turned around Holm was on the other side of the Octagon. Amazing to see Rousey so outclassed. Can’t see Rousey ever beating her?
From a purely sports psychology point of view at that level of sports, thoughts like that are very common in the immediate aftermate of a defeat. It usually only last for a little while and is completely understandable under the circumstances. The media are making a meal out if this as usual.
And being a top level athlete Ronda most of her life – Ronda will have understood that also, and therefore shouldn’t have come across the way she did on Ellen show.
I think its Ronda that’s made the meal out of it, purposefully so. I sense her display of waterworks was more of a cheap ploy to win back public sentiment – she was smiling away directly afterwards… really?