Holly Holm started strong and finished stronger to post a unanimous decision victory over Irene Aldana yesterday, Sunday, October 4, 2020 at UFC on ESPN at the Flash Forum, Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Holm won every round and was totally dominant in the fifth when late in the round she hit Aldana with left and right combinations in the head and face forcing Aldana back against the cage.
“If felt good to just go in there and have a dominating performance not something that would be too close. I could have had a brawl. And there are some in the clinch where I am trying to like put it all together. I wanted to be a full, well-rounded fighter and I felt like I was able to do that tonight,” said Holm.
Holm pedaled backward to avoid Aldana’s attacks. She kept Aldana at bay with stinging counter punches to win their every exchange.
She also showed her newly discovered grappling skills. A known striker, Holm took down Aldana in every one of the five rounds. While she could not convert her takedowns to a submission or stoppage Holm still clearly dominated.
“Coming here, it was just a lot of sacrifice for my team. And I just wanted to get in there and I didn’t want to let the time pass me by without making the most of it. Get out there and get it done. We came this far for (the) 25 minutes. I should at least get something done for 25 minutes,” said Holm.
She said that while she would be grateful to get another chance she isn’t impatient to get another shot at the bantamweight title held by Amanda Nunes.
“I’m gonna keep working hard. That’s all I’m gonna do. I know she (Nunes) has a lot going on right now. Another fighter already scheduled. And there are still some tough girls scheduled in that,” said Holm.
“I feel that the 135-pound division is pretty stacked. So I’ll just wait until the opportunity comes. The next fight is the next fight. And whatever that will be I’m gonna put my heart and soul into it and win again.”
Holm was also asked about a possible rematch against Germaine De Randamie who posted an impressive third round submission victory over Juliana Peña in an earlier bout.
De Randamie won a controversial unanimous decision victory over Holm to win the UFC Women’s Featherweight title in 2017. De Randamie was not deducted points despite hitting Holm after the bell in the second and third rounds
“That’s (fight against De Randamie) definitely an option. I think that everybody felt that she and I might meet up again, you know. We’ll see what happens. We’ll see where it goes from there,” said Holm.
In a battle of big boys Carlos Felipe won by decision over Yorgan De Castro at Heavyweight in the co-main event of the card.
In other fights in the main card Kyler Phillips knocked out Cameron Else in round 2 at bantamweight; and Dequan Townsend was knocked out in the second round by Dusko Todorovic at middleweight.
