Holly Holm, ‘Angry,’ ‘Not Ready to Stop Fighting’

Holly Holm still isn’t happy with how her UFC 300 fight against Kayla Harrison went.

Harrison handled the former bantamweight champion with relative ease, taking Holm to the ground and submitting her in the second round (watch the finish here). As if that wasn’t enough, UFC CEO Dana White gave her the kiss of death in the post-fight press conference, stating “I would love to see Holm retire,” when asked about her performance.

Holm is 5-6-1 since losing the 135-pound belt to Miesha Tate in 2016, and she’s appeared to be on the back foot in her last two fights. Time is right for every fighter, and at 42, we may have seen the best of “The Preacher’s Daughter.” But Holm is determined to prove her critics wrong.

“I’m upset,” she told MMA Junkie at the UFC Fan Expo. “I lost a lot of sleep over it because I know I’m capable of more than what I did. That’s just the way it is. You can’t go back and change things. You have to get over it, own it, keep fighting and move forward.”

“I think what’s super frustrating is I had a great camp, I had no injuries. I was healthy, I had great training partners, great coaching, and I was the one that let everybody down. I was the one that didn’t show up and let everybody down, including myself, you know. So, yeah, it’s frustrating.”

Holm has three fights left on her current contract, and it’s unlikely the UFC will drop her or stop giving her fights at this point. But it’s never good when the boss is pushing you to hang up your boots. How did Holly react to Dana White’s public rebuke?

“I just train because that’s all I can do,” she said. “You have to take it one day at a time, you know? In life and in sports, you can never hope for tomorrow. So I just train and I always choose to be positive and motivated in my life. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.”

“I’m ready to fight at any time. I’m definitely not ready to stop fighting. I know I’m still healthy and capable. I’m just angry that I didn’t perform.”