Why Holm Looked So Good Against Rousey and So Bad Against Everyone Else

[Tormund]

She's probably the safest fighter in the roster. Makes other fighters' boring fights look like barn burners.

Her ground game is probably one of the worst too. I thought she was going to get finished the second it went to the ground. She looked pretty defeated when she couldn't get off her back.

How can you get finished when your opponent is stalling? Should have been stood up.

 

[Tormund]

Holm is hardly a counter striker IMO. She is more of a pressure fighter.

I think its simply that Ronda was a much bigger fight that they had been preparing a while for. They learned what Ronda used to initiate ground techniques and knew that her striking would be her downfall.

Holm is about as much of a pressure fighter as McGregor is a jiu-jitsu fighter.

 

[HendricksPunch]

Holly fought an excellent fight. She defended takedown attempts, fought very well in clinches, and avoided getting into trouble the two times she was on the ground. She mixed up kicks and punches brilliantly and stepped up the pace when it was indicated. She made an adjustment between rounds (no more right jabs or hooks) and there were no clinches in the second round. I agree that Ronda fought a very very bad fight but you should't take anything away from Holly.

I certainly am not trying to take anything from Holly at all. I am trying to say that Ronda's style of fighting was absolutely perfect for Holly's fighting style. Holly is very patient, keeps her distance, and has excellent striking. Ronda ran into the end of Holly's shots again and again, like no else Holly fought. Everyone else fought Holly with caution and a game plan. Ronda tried to do what she always does and it failed. She was impatient and kept trying to charge in like a bull. Not taking anything away from Holly, Holly had the PERFECT answer to the Ronda puzzle that no one else had yet.

 

[platypus44]

I certainly am not trying to take anything from Holly at all. I am trying to say that Ronda's style of fighting was absolutely perfect for Holly's fighting style. Holly is very patient, keeps her distance, and has excellent striking. Ronda ran into the end of Holly's shots again and again, like no else Holly fought. Everyone else fought Holly with caution and a game plan. Ronda tried to do what she always does and it failed. She was impatient and kept trying to charge in like a bull. Not taking anything away from Holly, Holly had the PERFECT answer to the Ronda puzzle that no one else had yet.

I basically agree. And my point is that part of the reason is intense preparation to fight Ronda.

 

[TheCryingElite]

How can you get finished when your opponent is stalling? Should have been stood up.

Yeah that was super frustrating when Valentina literally sat in half-guard doing absolutely nothing. I know it's Holly's job to get back up(which she clearly couldn't) and Valentina's ground game isn't her strongest attribute. But still! Most other fights that would of been stood up.

 

[Tormund]

Yeah that was super frustrating when Valentina literally sat in half-guard doing absolutely nothing. I know it's Holly's job to get back up(which she clearly couldn't) and Valentina's ground game isn't her strongest attribute. But still! Most other fights that would of been stood up.

I think we hold fighters with a low ground game to a different stand up because it's easier to finish them.

 

[teamfox223]

Ronda's dumb ass coach made her believe she can box and KO Holly so she tried and we all know what happened.

Shit game plan from a shitty coach in between rounds his still giving Ronda advise on how to strike with holly like "use your jab more" LOL how about take the fight to the floor asap. Plus Holly was not respecting Ronda's stand up which was making it harder for Ronda to take her down, Holly styled all over Ronda in striking. Valentina striking is world class she use that alot to setup take downs as her opponents do not expect that move. She took Nunes down in the third as well and Kufmen many times.

 

[INoHespectChael]

How can you get finished when your opponent is stalling? Should have been stood up.

Stalling? I remember her eating a bunch of punches and elbows to the head without knowing how to get back up...

 

[MirRocksFedor]

Holly "ish ish" Holm is a decision, point fighter. She is not exciting to watch and fights very tentative, Ronda was just dumb enough to fall into her strenghts, which is counterpunching. Holm may as well lose her next fights, i won't be surprised. I'm not hating on her but it is what i see

Meh. She didn't seem tentative to me. She was agreeing to chase and that got her in trouble.

She was way bigger. Greg missed the boat on this one. Plan should have been cage stall (she was able to) and Hunt for big take downs near the end of the round.

Poor game plan cost HH her big contract.

 

[Tormund]

Stalling? I remember her eating a bunch of punches and elbows to the head without knowing how to get back up...

Funny, all the media and pros thought it should have been stood up as well as majority of people here.

 

[platypus44]

I think WMMA has evolved to the point at which a one dimensional fighter is toast.
Holly was deathly afraid of takedowns and so she didn't put any mustard on her punches for fear of getting into clinches (even against the been up and badly coached Rousey, she had to stop throwing rights in the second round to avoid clinches). So her fear of takedowns screwed up her striking game. In boxing, clinches were an integral part of her strategy in each fight - t's hard to box well if you are terrified of clinches
I think she should have been more willing to risk clinches in the last two minutes of each round - Shevchenko's corner was telling HER to avoid clinches so if Holly had been more willing to close distance and risk clinches she might have started landing some punches.
Also - there was no way she was going to win a kicking duel with Shevchenko.
Holly had to win this fight with punches and in order to do that she had to be willing to risk clinches.

 

[platypus44]

Yeah that was super frustrating when Valentina literally sat in half-guard doing absolutely nothing. I know it's Holly's job to get back up(which she clearly couldn't) and Valentina's ground game isn't her strongest attribute. But still! Most other fights that would of been stood up.

A good point. There is a decent argument that the fight should have been stood up at some point in the third round. However, I don't think it would have changed the result. Shevchenko still would have won the round.

 

[Topguntrophey]

Magic!

 

[platypus44]

Meh. She didn't seem tentative to me. She was agreeing to chase and that got her in trouble.

She was way bigger. Greg missed the boat on this one. Plan should have been cage stall (she was able to) and Hunt for big take downs near the end of the round.

Poor game plan cost HH her big contract.

She was terrified of takedowns and clinches and that led her to try to kick and strike from too far out. She should have gotten more aggressive in the last two minutes of each round - Shevchenko is not Tate and doesn't really have a submission game - a takedown is not the end of the world.

 

[platypus44]

I agree with some of your answers.

I think you exaggerate how little she trained other aspects of fighting, saying "she didn't train against southpaws, etc," but point taken.

A simple way to look at it is this; Holm is a counter fighter, Rousey is the opposite. Shevchenko is also a counterfighter.

I will add that she looked fairly dam good against Marion Reneau. She had Reneau hurt a couple times and was somewhat near finishing her at the end.

I agree. She looked dominant against Reneau. I think she got to the point where she was sure that Reneau couldn't take her down and this enabled her to open up her striking game and unload. If it had gone another minute or so, it would have been a TKO.
Her problem in both the Tate and Shevchenko fights is that she was so worried about being taken down that it screwed up her striking game.
It was ironic in the Shevchenko fight that both corners were advising their fighters not to clinch. If Holm had known that Shevchenko was getting this advice, she would have been much less worried about getting into a clinch and would have opened up her striking game more.
The time in the first round she knocked Shevchenko on her ass, Holly should have immediately followed up with a combo/flurry. Shevchenko likes to withdraw and reset - if you can disrupt her pattern with pressure, you can probably undermine her game.