Coach: Holly Holm held back in first two UFC fights, before fighting Ronda Rousey
In her UFC debut, just nine months ago, bantamweight Holly Holm fought well, but was lucky to come away with a split-decision win over Raquel Pennington. In July, Holm won more convincingly, but still by decision, against Marion Reneau.
Last weekend at UFC 193, however, Holm was near perfect and outright devastating in knocking Ronda Rousey out to become the new world champion at 135 pounds. How did Holm look so markedly better last weekend than she ever had before in the UFC?
According to her coach Mike Winkeljohn, Holm had been taking it easier on previous opponents. "Holly has held back in a bit in the past, and that was all part of the plan," he told Yahoo! Sports.
"We knew we would fight Ronda one day and Holly showed why she is now the best in the world."
Playing relative possum for a couple fights and eeking out decisions is a hell of a risky plan, but if that's indeed what Holm and her team did, we suppose it worked out perfectly. This writer certainly didn't expect her to be as powerful as she was against Rousey, and The Rowdy One likely also didn't expect it.
Holm kept visibly calm throughout the lead-up to the bout up until she stopped Rousey. On the other hand, the defending champion seemed flustered for weeks, and fought with a barely-controlled something that sure looked a lot like rage.
That shock and awe didn't do the trick for Rousey this time, as it had every other time in her MMA career, however. Holm used her footwork and intellect to win gold, according to her coach.
"Footwork is always the key for Holly Holm in her fights," he said.
"Ronda is an emotional fighter and she has overwhelmed people with that pressure sometimes and it's worked for her in the past."
The former fighter and celebrated coach insisted that Holm was just too smart to fall prey to all that. "It's just Holly is at another level when it comes to intellect," he concluded.
