UFC 208’s headline bout between Germaine de Randamie and Holly Holm was controversial, to say the least.
Despite losing to de Randamie, Holm feels that she won the fight. With the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight title on the line, many observers feel that “The Preacher’s Daughter” should have scored a draw at least (given the Dutch fighters’ blows after the bell in rounds two and three). Holm was not exactly bitter at the ‘208 post-fight press conference, but does feel that a rematch may be warranted given the circumstances:
“She hit hard shots. She hit hard shots after the bell, those are the hardest shots I felt the whole entire fight.”
Holm was clearly affected by the shots clearly felt that referee Todd Anderson should have intervened for her safety:
“A lot of times, the first one they give a warning, that’s kind of normal,” she said. “I wouldn’t expect them to take a point after the first one, even though it was intentional. The second time, at that point you think they’d do something.”
de Randamie did not attend the press conference following the fight but did state immediately after the end of the bout that there was no intent on her part to land shots after the bell. Holm was not so sure:
“It wasn’t like the last punch of a combination after the bell rang,” Holm said. “It was intentional and it was after the bell. What can you do?”
The ex-bantamweight champion is now 0-3 in the UFC following what was an MMA career-peak of knocking out Ronda Rousey in 2015. Holm believes an immediate rematch is deserved, and is hoping that the UFC oblige:
“I think it merits a rematch,” Holm said. “When you have more than half the people saying the fight should go the other way, that warrants a rematch, so, that would be awesome.”
“I’m sitting in a spot where my last three fights I’m 0-3, so I’m going to take whatever they give me,” she said.
