Holly Holm Looking For Redemption Against Valentina Shevchenko

The former UFC bantamweight women’s champion Holly Holm lost her last fight to Miesha Tate in March. She will be back in the Octagon this weekend as the UFC main event in Chicago to face the No. 7 ranked Valentina Shevchenko.

Holm vs. Tate.

UFC fans will use this as a fight to see how she handles coming back from a loss. In an interview with ESPN she said she is always anxious for a fight and prepares to win no matter the situation.

“I’ve just used it as motivation to want to keep getting better,” Holm said. “I always want to keep getting better regardless, but that loss just put that sour taste in your mouth, it kind of drives me even more to want to keep improving.”

Holm defeated Rhonda Rousey in UFC 193 by knockout in the second round, one of the biggest upsets in sports history. Rousey was devastated after the loss and decided to take a break from fighting and hasn’t returned since. Talk about taking it hard. Rousey is expected to return late 2016, early 2017.

Holm doesn’t want to let a loss defeat her, she said.

“I feel like if I was to sit back and not want to come back and do well then that would bother me more,” Holm said.

“You go from a really big high, to losing the belt, being on a low. You always kind of battle with your own doubts in your own mind. I’ve put in a hard training camp, I’ve put in a lot of hard work and I want to make it worth it, I just want to win this fight, and that’s really all my focus is,” she said.

Shevchenko is three inches shorter than Holm, but has a lot of strength in her hit from her muay thai and kickboxing. Holm can strike too, considering she comes from a boxing background, so perhaps one of the competitors will focus on takedowns to catch the other off guard. Holm’s size gives her more reach and she is agile to avoid incoming strikes.

The belt has changed hands three times in the pas nine months, but Holm still thinks it’s possible to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title.

“You start at the bottom at the beginning of a career, climb your way up and this is just another set back and I feel like I’m very capable of being back on the top again,” she said.

Article by Lindsey Horsting