It's only days before the highly anticipated UFC fight between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm. To many followers of the sport, it's quite clear who is the underdog. Rousey's experience and career as a UFC star makes her the public's favorite to win, but Holm is emerging as a serious contender.
"I don't mind you saying I'm a huge underdog, because I am a huge underdog," Holm told Yahoo Sports. "But the odds have nothing to do with how I'll perform. I wouldn't have taken the fight if I didn't think I was ready or didn't believe I could win."
The former women's boxing champion is convinced she's going to be victorious when she faces off with Rousey at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia Saturday. She's relying on her 11-year boxing career and kickboxing record to pull her through.
"She beat some good fighters, maybe they were a little older when she fought them, Mia St. John, but, she has some good wins," said boxing coach Freddie Roach about Holm, per MMA Fighting. However, Roach also admitted this match could still go to Ronda. "Ronda is just huge right now, and the thing is, she knows the ground game so much better than the boxing girl will."
Bleacher Report put their odds at Holm beating Rousey in UFC 193, but only if the former will be able to deliver a perfect strategy. One wrong move from Holm is all Rousey needs to beat her opponent. The news outlet also pointed out that despite Holm's wealth of experience in a fighting ring, the match up with the current UFC women's bantamweight champion seems slightly premature. Holm only won two UFC fights prior to this weekend's showdown.
Despite this, Holm believed that the people around her have best prepared her for the fight. "It's something that I think if my team saw me being there soon, they gave me confidence so when it came I can't say I was surprised because it's something we already saw in my future anyway," she told Fox Sports.
Meanwhile, Rousey conceded that Holm is one of the toughest opponents she will ever face in her career and she predicted that their fight will last much longer than expected. "She's the type of fighter you have to be very, very patient with," Rousey told TV host Jimmy Fallon when she was on "The Tonight Show," per Herald Sun.
