Little changed in Holly Holm’s routine after she scored a stunning victory Saturday over Ronda Rousey that attracted the notice of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, singer Lady Gaga and countless other A-list celebrities around the world.
Holm isn't much for the glitz and glamour of the hottest night spots, and didn’t change even after her second-round knockout of Rousey at UFC 193 made her the women’s bantamweight champion.
Rousey had said before the fight in Melbourne, Australia, that Holm wouldn’t be able to handle the demands that go along with being the champion, but she’s off to a nice start.
After countless interviews and other tasks following the fight at Etihad Stadium -- including a pair of drug tests because she’d been drinking so much water that her urine was too diluted in the first one -- Holm left the venue to celebrate with her family and close friends who’d made the 8,000-mile trek with her.
“I’m not much for the big, huge noisy clubs,” Holm told Yahoo Sports a day after the win over Rousey.
Instead, the group found a quiet pub, where they downed a few beers and munched on French fries and nachos while discussing the way her life changed in the last three months.
Holm was largely overlooked in the build-up to the bout as Rousey-mania reached a frenzied crescendo. For months, Rousey praised Holm and had nothing but good things to say about her, until she did a 180 at the weigh-in Friday and had to be restrained by UFC president Dana White from attacking Holm.
Rousey posted a video of their altercation to her Instagram account, writing, “Fake-ass cheap shotting fake respect fake humility [expletive] ... ”
Rousey seemed frazzled, perhaps by the enormous attention she’d received prior to the bout, while Holm remained the epitome of calm. And after referee Herb Dean gave the final instructions, Rousey refused to touch gloves.
That prompted Lady Gaga to post a photo of Holm punching Rousey and to write, “That’s what you get for not touching gloves!”
The significance of what she’d accomplished hit Holm when she heard about that, as Gaga has more than 52 million Twitter followers and 12 million Instagram followers.
And that was followed on Sunday by a tweet from Trump in which he wrote, “Glad to see that @RondaRousey lost her championship fight last night. Was soundly beaten – not a nice person!”
This was presumably because Rousey had the audacity to say she planned to vote for Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders.
It all left Holm shaking her head at the change in her life, though she had no complaints.
“It’s pretty incredible, but if someone wants to root for me, I’ll take it,” she said. “I’ll take all the support I can get. Donald Trump isn’t one to stay quiet and he’ll say what he thinks. Lady Gaga even put out a tweet. To have all these famous people tweeting about it, it’s so crazy.
“It’s fun. This is what we do and it’s why we do it. When I’m training, there is so much on my mind and so much emotion and sometimes I say, ‘Why do I make myself do this?’ But this is why. Seeing so many people celebrate and enjoy it, that’s why we go through everything.”
Though boxing is firmly in her rearview mirror, Holm also struck a chord for its diehard fans with her win. Rousey is on the cover of the current issue of Ring Magazine, and it outraged many of the sport’s most ardent fans to see a female MMA fighter and not a boxer on the cover.
Holm referred to boxing several times by saying “our sport” when she talked about the furor over the cover.
She was Ring’s 2005 and 2006 Female Fighter of the Year, but she didn't make it onto the cover either year.
“The cover with Ronda brought a lot of attention to our sport [boxing] and so I think it is great,” Holm said. “Anything that is good for women’s boxing, I’m all for it. I didn’t get upset for it. I was happy for Ronda and I’m glad it got people talking about women’s boxing, to be honest with you. And even though I haven’t been on the cover, being their Fighter of the Year twice was quite an honor.”
She reiterated on Sunday that she’d have no problem giving Rousey a rematch, and said she looked forward to continue to improve. She wasn’t expected to get the title shot as quickly as she did, but UFC president Dana White felt she was ready and made the move.
The scary part for the women in the bantamweight division, though, is that Holm feels she hasn’t peaked as a mixed martial artist. That’s almost hard to believe after she picked apart the woman Sports Illustrated called “The World’s Most Dominant Athlete” in a cover story in the summer.
“Oh, every fight I learn so much and I feel I’m a completely different fighter than I was in July,” Holm said. “I’ve learned so much and I’ve enjoyed it, but I feel I have a lot more to learn. There are still a lot of things I need to work on.”
Conducting herself with humility and grace, however, isn’t one of them.
Clearly, she’s got that down pat.
