Holly Holm wins UFC debut via split decision
Holly Holm heard undeserved boos after a split-decision victory over Raquel Pennington on Saturday night in Los Angeles. The former boxing world champion and the TUF veteran both fought expertly and produced what was UFC 184's most exciting fight to that point.
After three rounds of closely contested battling on the feet, Holm won a split decision over Pennington. One judge scored the fight for Holm 29-28 and another scored it 30-27 for the New Mexico fighter.
The third judge scored the fight for Pennington 29-28. The fight was hard to score, with each woman having her moments in the thrilling stand-up striking fight, but the 30-27 score for Holm was strange and was perhaps what prompted the boos from the Staples Center crowd.
Throughout the fight, Holm looked more comfortable striking on the feet and scored often to the body. Pennington scrapped hard and landed many more power punches to the head.
One such shot dropped Holm to the mat in the third round. After getting floored, Holm leaped back to her feet and fought more aggressively than she had all fight.
Even so, Pennington managed to continue to score, even as Holm landed some of her best shots in the last minute of the third round. At the final horn's sounding, Holm bled from her mouth and Pennington's face was bruised.
Both bantamweight contenders fought with smarts, urgency and skill. After her heavily-promoted UFC debut, Holm told Joe Rogan that she didn't feel it was possible for her to live up to the hype surrounding her.
"We did have to change up the game plan a little bit," she said.
"It's a new experience, and the unknown is there. So are a lot of nerves ... because of the hype, I don't think I can live up to it."
