Even before she fought in UFC, Holly Holm said Ronda Rousey was beatable

Today on “Good Morning America,” the topic was Ronda Rousey and the woman who set up her shocking fall, Holly Holm.

“I’ve been the underdog before; I’ve had to come in after a lot of people doubting me before, and that definitely prepared me to know that believing in myself is huge,” Holm told the ABC morning show in a taped interview three days after her upset win at UFC 193.

It should come as no surprise that Holm held this mindset long before she made headlines around the world, because she told fans about it back when she was just a promising prospect in the UFC women’s bantamweight division.

Holm, a former boxing and kickboxing champ, created buzz with a series of violent knockouts on the regional scene. But with Rousey’s shadow looming large, many questioned whether her striking skills would pose any threat to the former Olympic judoka.

“I think she’s great, she’s ran through everybody and made it look easy,” Holm said shortly after the announcement of her debut UFC opponent, Raquel Pennington, at UFC 184. “Is it tough to beat her? Absolutely. I think everybody’s tried to bring their best game. But on the flip side, everyone is beatable. Everybody’s human and everybody’s beatable.

“I think the biggest thing for me if I think about a fight that big,” she said, “is you have to walk in there believing in yourself. This is how I’ve always felt from the very beginning of my career. If you don’t even feel like you can do it, you shouldn’t be in there, because you’ve already lost mentally.”

Unfortunately for Holm, her strong statement didn’t quite matchup to her debut performance, which saw her defeat Pennington in a less-than-spectacular split call at the February pay-per-view event. Meanwhile, in the headliner, Rousey made quick work of Cat Zingano for her fifth title defense.

In July, Holm (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) showed improvement in the cage, upping her UFC record to 2-0 with a unanimous decision over Marion Reneau. But she was still a massive underdog when she took on Rousey at this past Saturday’s PPV card at the 70,000-seat Etihad Stadium.

As it turned out, though, the high stakes brought out the best in Holm. Despite being counted out, she refused to be bullied around the cage and made Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) pay for every charge with devastating punches. Then, she rocked the champ with a huge shot before setting up her signature move, a head kick that turned the lights out on the MMA star.

According to ABC, Holm celebrated her title win by pigging out on nachos and fries. But she again said she expects a rematch to be in her immediate future. She’s already an underdog in early betting lines, once again giving her the task of proving herself – this time, that she’s no fluke.

But if history is any indication, Holm will approach the second fight with the attitude that won her the belt. She’s already proven that’s a key part of her winning formula.

“I’ll train twice as hard as I did for the first one, because I know she’ll be coming back,” Holm said.

For complete coverage of UFC 193, check out the UFC Events section of the site.