After falling short in her quest to become the first UFC Women’s Featherweight champion last night at UFC 208, Holly Holm was adamant that, despite losing a close decision to Germaine de Randamie, she won the last three rounds and had done enough to come out on top.
UFC 208 took place Saturday, February 11 from the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York and featured the crowning of the inaugural womans featherweight champion in a main event bout between former bantamweight champion Holm and eventual winner de Randamie.
De Randamie was awarded the judge’s decision on all three scorecards with scores of 47-46 despite many fans and media scoring the fight to “The Preachers Daughter”. Add in two controversial moments where “The Iron Lady” struck Holm after the buzzer in rounds two and three which many feel should have resulted in a points deduction and you have enough to warrant the calls for the rematch.
Holm disappointed after feeling she did enough to win the fight
Holm stated that she very much believed she won the last three rounds despite de Randamie having the better of the fight at the beginning.
When asked if the closeness of the decision and the illegal shots warranted a rematch down the line, the Jackson-Wink MMA fighter would not hold back when confirming she felt hard done by after the decision loss.
“I think it warrants a rematch,” said Holm at the UFC 208 post-fight press conference. “When you have half the people saying the fight should have gone the other way, usually that warrants a rematch.”
When asked what she thought of the Dutch fighter’s illegal shots and if she thought they were intentional and if a point should have been deducted, Holm was certainly not in two minds about it.
“In terms of the first one, they give a warning and that’s kinda normal. I wouldn’t expect them to take a point after the first one even though it was intentional,” said Holm.
“The second time, you would think at that point they would do something but I’m just one of those people who thinks I shouldn’t have let her have done it anyways. It wasn’t like the last punch of a combination before the bell rang, it was intentional. Those were some of the best shots of the night after the bell and I don’t know how the judges saw that, if they see that as points for her, what can you do?”
Although wanting the rematch, Holm is realistic about her options moving forwards as after losing her last three fights, she is in no position to call the shots of what she wants to do next.
“I’m in a spot where after my last three fights, I’m 0-3 so I will take whatever they want to give me,” said the former champion.
Dana White unhappy with standard of NYSAC referees
Another person angry about the standard of refereeing in the main event was UFC President Dana White who used it as an example of why he feels the New York State Athletic Commission referees aren’t experienced enough to be in charge of fights of that calibre.
Talking to Megan Olivi for the UFC’s YouTube channel after the event, White would say, “I feel like the refs from New York should not be reffing a main event fight, they don’t have enough experience. He should not have been in there but we don’t make those decisions, the commission does.
“That was a bad decision by them and if that guy takes a point for hitting after the bell then it’s a draw. That’s the only possible way this night could have been any sh***er”
Doubling up on his disappointment in the aftermath of UFC 208, when White was asked about his best moment of the night, he couldn’t have made his feeling anymore clear.
“The plane ride home,” said White in typical deadpan fashion.
