Holly Holm Discusses Potential Ronda Rousey Rematch, Doubts Rousey's Return to MMA

Ahead of her boxing rematch against Stephanie Han for Jake Paul's MVPW, former UFC champion Holly Holm is on a press run to talk about her upcoming fight, as well as her reaction to Ronda Rousey's recent comeback to MMA. Holm, who dispatched of Rousey with relative ease during their championship fight back in 2015, has spoken to the media expressing her willingness to rematch Rousey, but she is also realistic in her expectations and believes that Rousey will stay retired for good.

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Holm spoke of Ronda, saying, "She wanted to come back and have this win and go back and enjoy and have a win like that."

Holm referenced Rousey's incredibly quick finish of Gina Carano. "No hate from me. I hope she does well. I hope she does whatever she wants with her life. That's her life."

Rousey returned to fighting after a decade, while Carano had been 17 years removed from competition. Despite the clear skill gap, Holm had nothing but positive things to say about her former opponent.

"For [Ronda] to come back and face it, that takes a lot of courage, too," she admitted.

The Rematch that Never Happened

She also revealed on The Ariel Helwani Show that she was actually anticipating a rematch with Rousey, but was met with silence from Rousey and her camp.

"Right after the fight, it was, ‘Hey, do you want to wait for the fight with Ronda?' I said, ‘Well, sure. How long are we going to wait?' and there was no answer, because we had no answer from her," she claims.

Despite handily dominating Rousey in the span of two rounds during their first fight, Holm was gracious enough to grant Ronda a chance to redeem herself.

"I've always said I would rematch her, and I still would to this day," Holm remarked, leaving the door open to another possible retirement comeback.

"I highly doubt she'll ever want a rematch. I always have said since the minute the last fight was over, I'll always rematch her. That's always been available," she told MMA Fighting.

Rousey, however, has been adamant that she will not return to competing in MMA, saying after her fight that she wants to "have some more babies."

"I believe her when she says she's done," Holm told Helwani.

Holm also believes Ronda Rousey was not gracious in her defeat.

"I don't think she held herself real well after her losses, but it's hard to tell people how you're supposed to feel. Those are raw emotions. I've never been one to talk sh- on her, gloat; nothing like that," she continued, referencing Rousey's two losses to Holm and Amanda Nunes:

Holm Has Immense Respect for Rousey

At the end of the day, Holm is happy for Rousey and has nothing but respect for her:

"The whole reason why me beating her was such a big deal is because she was so dominant," she told MMA Fighting. "You have to have a dominant champion in order to have a big upset. So I have all the respect for her. I'll never say anything negative."

"But then there's like the fighter pride of things," she admitted. "Anybody would be lying if they said they weren't proud of it. I'm proud that I went in and did what I did. But I'm a fighter. That's what we do. We go to win."

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This story was originally published May 29, 2026 at 12:13 AM.