Holly Holm: Loss To Miesha Tate Felt 'Like The End of The World'

"That's pretty much what it feels like, the end of the world."@HollyHolm describes losing the bantamweight title against Miesha Tate #UFC239 (via @bokamotoespn) pic.twitter.com/6XoMLr7HSo

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 2, 2019

After Holly Holm shocked the world with her head-kick knockout of Ronda Rousey in 2015, many believed she would be the new face of women’s MMA for years to come. It was not to be.

In her first title defense, Holm was choked unconscious by Miesha Tate in a fight she had been winning handily. Since losing the belt to Tate, Holm has been in two more title fights, losing to Germaine de Randamie and Cris Cyborg at featherweight.

This weekend, Holm will challenge dual-divisional champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 239 for the bantamweight title. In the lead up to this weekend’s fight, Holm recalled to ESPN the loss to Tate and the feeling immediately after she came to.

“I remember the ref came over and was like, ‘Do you know what happened?’ I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And he was like, ‘What?’ And I was like, ‘I got choked out.’ And goes, ‘Oh, OK, good.’ And I was like [MUTED],” Holm recalled.

“He meant like, ‘Oh, good. You know where you’re at.’ And it’s like, this is not good. You put so much time and effort into it and then….when people say, ‘It’s not the end of the world,” that’s pretty much what it feels like, the end of the world. You put everything into it, but I’ve learned so much from then. And I use that as a motivation to keep learning and keep getting better.”

“And I’m a different fighter now than I was back then, and that’s one thing that I do know. So that’s why I can look back on it and just think, ‘This is what I did to get better from then.’”