Holly Holm released by UFC is not a surprise at all

Holly Holm exploded onto the scene in UFC primarily because she did what nobody thought was possible in defeating Ronda Rousey. When Holm was put into that fight I believe she was put there only because there really wasn't anyone left for Rousey to defeat. Holm was an extreme underdog and there was a bunch of speculation that Ronda didn't even train properly and was abandoning her usual Judo flip to arm bar finish to prove to the fighting world that she was not a one-trick pony. Well, she kind of was a one-trick pony but that gig stayed valid for a long time.

Holly Holm became an overnight sensation after her shock victory over Ronda, but after that things went down rapidly and for the most part stayed down for her.

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While Holm remained a crowd favorite especially in events that were in Texas where she is from, she never really seemed to be a force to be reckoned with and it wasn't long before she was relegated to undercards and eventually to non pay-per-view events. Her history is one that happens every now and then where someone explodes onto the scene, gets to the top, and then fades away over time while people just wait and wait and wait for some sort of resurgence that never comes.

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That fight vs Rousey was a long time ago folks and unfortunately for Holm things didn't ever seem to get much better for her after immediately losing the title and then mostly getting beaten by lessor and lessor known opponents. She hasn't won a fight since 2020 and her most recent loss by 2nd round submission that happened at UFC 300 wasn't really even noticed by very many people. Her bankability has completely dried up and I guess she needs to thank her agent for getting her such a long contract while the "iron was hot" because without such a contract, it is easy to assume that she would have been let go a while ago.

I wish I could say that she avoided being used as a stepping stone for rising talent but I think that is exactly what UFC was doing with her since the turn of the decade. In her last fight vs. relative unknown Kayla Harrison, she only landed 7 strikes in the entire fight. I didn't watch it but I went back to watch the highlights and Holly just looks like a punching bag out there.

I don't know what transpired between Dana, the UFC, and Holly, but she was recently released by UFC early from her contract even though there are 2 fights left. The fact that Holm went into this fight after a string of many losses still ranked at number 5 in the world doesn't say a great deal about the bantamweight division for women. I think that UFC may have stretched the women's division a bit too far as it doesn't seem that many girls are actually interested in fighting at that weight. Who can say? But I do know that when you lose 3 of your last 4 and haven't won 2 in a row for ten years yet are still ranked number 5, there might not be a great deal of actual competition in that weight class.

UFC is being polite with Holm, as they should be. The press releases about this are not throwing shade at Holly and are kind of wording it like it was actually Holly's decision to do this. I doubt that this is actually the case but if it is a cover-up to spare Holm's feelings I can't think of a fighter anywhere that is more deserving of that sort of gratitude.

What is next for Holly Holm? Honestly, I hope not very much. I suppose she could go an bang out a couple of fights over at Bellator or PFL and when she loses there nobody can really say that Holly is all washed up. She was never really on a streak except for when she first got to UFC back in 2015 and they streamlined her from "new person" to fight for the championship in just 8 months.

She has a net worth of $4 million and if she plays her cards right she can probably continue to make a lot of money in endorsements even once she leaves the UFC. She is seen as wholesome and a person that never gives up so I guess she can sell some supplements or something.

For me, I am happy that she decided to leave because leaving after 2 more losses to up and comers wouldn't really help her legacy very much.