Holly Holm, the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion and woman who dethroned Ronda Rousey, is no longer with the promotion.
Holm has been granted her release by the UFC, which apparently came at the 43-year old’s request. Uncrowned was first to report news of Holm’s release.
The move brings a major chapter in the UFC women’s bantamweight division to a close. Holm, a Hall of Fame boxer, made the jump to MMA in 2011, and by 2014 she had run up a 7-0 record, enough to land a spot in UFC. Two wins under the promotion’s banner and she was booked into a fight with Rousey at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia in 2015.
A head kick put Rousey away in the second, halting the sport’s biggest star at that point in her tracks.
Holm would lose her title at UFC 200 in her first attempt at defending it. She’d compete for UFC belts twice more, once at featherweight and once back at 135lbs, coming up short on both occasions. At UFC 300 last April, Holm was dominated by Kayla Harrison, who submitted her in the second round of their high-profile fight.
“The Preacher’s Daughter,” even at 43, still has plenty of options. BKFC has already expressed interest in signing Holly Holm, while a return to traditional boxing, or signing on with the PFL or fledgling GFL, are all possibilities. That should make free agency rather interesting for the Jackson-Wink MMA product.