Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Holly Holm will have a chance to capture gold again in the UFC at UFC 208, where she battles Germaine De Randamie to become the first ever UFC Women’s Featherweight Champion.
Holm, who was the first woman to ever defeat former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, doesn’t want that lone win to define her entire professional MMA career.
“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,” Holm said to Fox Sports.
Holm will actually be entering the fight on a two fight losing streak, dropping fights to former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate and Valentina Shevchenko. Holm now enters UFC 208 on a two fight losing streak and is challenging for a brand new championship in the UFC, but she acknowledges that the pressure is on her.
“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.”
UFC 208 takes place on Saturday, February 11 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York with Holly Holm and Germaine De Randamie headlining.
