Holly Holm would welcome a rematch with Ronda Rousey

Holly Holm, newly crowned as the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion after defeating Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers to talk about her win and what the future holds for both her and Rousey.

When it comes to a possible rematch, Holm says she’s down to do it:

Meyers: “Is there a chance for a rematch? Is that something people can expect?”

Holm: “Oh, I welcome it. I’ve been on the other end of losing a bout before, getting knocked out and having to come back -- I did avenge my loss. And I know that she’ll be wanting to do the same, so I’ll have to train twice as hard. You know, she’ll be coming back. She’s a competitive person, and we all know that. She’ll be coming back hard.”

As for the fight itself, this is what Holm was thinking, moments before she delivered the kick to Rousey’s head:

“As soon as I saw her kind of standing back up, it was kind of a slow motion moment right there. Like ‘Don’t kick her while her hands are still on the canvas,’ because that would be an illegal blow. ‘Let’s not ruin this. We’re close! We’re so close, don’t ruin it.’ And then [the opportunity] was there, so I just let [the kick] go.”

After all the drama surrounding the match, Holm still respects Rousey a ton, giving credit to her for leading the way for women in MMA:

“Why is this fight so big, why is this win so big for me? Because she was that good, she was that dominant. So, after the fight, you know, it’s just like, ‘Hey, a lot of us wouldn’t have the opportunities without you and I appreciate you, and you’ve been a very dominant champion for a reason.’ And I mean that.”

We’re all looking forward to that rematch, whenever it happens.