The Film Room: Holly Holm
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Former bantamweight champion Holly Holm returns to the Octagon for the first time in nearly a year to take on two-weight champion Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title. Although she is 2-4 since winning the title from Ronda Rousey in 2015, Holm is still a dangerous striker and if Nunes takes her lightly we could be crowing our first two-time women’s bantamweight champion.
Before transitioning to MMA, Holm amassed a 33-3-2 boxing record and a 14-7-1 kickboxing record. She is one of the most accomplished strikers to make the transition to MMA and at 37 she is still one of the best strikers in the division. Holm can often get stuck in counter mode, but when she is on the offensive she likes to mix aggressive combos with single precision punches. Notice here how when she does lead with a combo it’s rarely more than three strikes at a time before she resets at range. The only thing I don’t like about these combos is that she often crosses her feet and comes forward head first when throwing. Some opponents have already picked up on this and have punished her with counters.
But Holm is at her best when methodically coming in with a quick strike and then resetting. Against Ronda Rousey, Holm didn’t want to make the same mistakes as past opponents and run into her clinch, so she timed Rousey’s movements and looked to take an outside angle to set up her left straight. This might not be the most exciting style but it has proven to be effective, especially against aggressive opponents like Rousey. Lately, she has seemed to rely more on being aggressive, but these single strikes could work wonders against Nunes, who is always looking to push the pace.
Although she comes from a boxing background, Holm’s kicks have been her main source of success in MMA. It may look like she is throwing most of these kicks with no set up, but if you watch closely you will see her feint her way into the kicks and use footwork to create a dominant angle. Holm relies a lot on footwork and likes to circle to either side from a southpaw stance to create an angle for the kick. I would like to see her set them up more, as just feints and footwork aren’t enough to have much success at the highest levels, but she does do a good job of ending her punch combos with kicks. I would also like to see her attack the body and legs more, especially against an aggressive opponent like Nunes.
Since a lot of Holm’s striking relies on movement and fighting on the outside, she uses lots of side kicks to the body and legs to keep opponents at a distance. The beauty of these kicks is that they can be used as a leading attack and as a counter. Holm is often flustered by pressure fighters and these quick kicks to the legs stop the opponent in their tracks and allow her to set the pace and distance of the fight. Her teammate Jon Jones also relies on fighting on the outside and has perfected these kicks to secure and maintain his preferred distance from his opponent.
As stated earlier, Holm often gets stuck in counter mode, which can either work in her favor or spell her demise. She possesses a nice counter lead hook and if her opponents come forward too aggressively she can again take an outside angle to set up a counter left straight. Since Nunes is almost always the aggressor, I expect Holm to rely on her counters more than ever, but the big question is: Will she have enough time to plant and counter with Nunes constantly in her face?
Usually, fighters who transition from boxing to MMA have great defensive tendencies, but Holm is an exception. She relies on footwork to evade attacks, which means that when she doesn't have room to move she can get stuck eating shots, especially since she’s not great at covering up. Against Valentina Shevchenko, Holm was routinely hit with counter lead hooks as she sloppily moved into the pocket. Shevchenko is as pure a counter striker as you will ever see and she refused to lead the entire fight. This forced Holm to come forward with wild combos, for which Shevchenko made her pay nearly every time. Nunes will certainly not be looking for counters like Shevchenko was, but that fight showed that Holm can be pulled into somebody’s wheelhouse and can end up fighting their fight instead of sticking to her game plan.
Former bantamweight champion Holly Holm returns to the Octagon for the first time in nearly a year to take on two-weight champion Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title. Although she is 2-4 since winning the title from Ronda Rousey in 2015, Holm is still a dangerous striker and if Nunes takes her lightly we could be crowing our first two-time women’s bantamweight champion.
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Before transitioning to MMA, Holm amassed a 33-3-2 boxing record and a 14-7-1 kickboxing record. She is one of the most accomplished strikers to make the transition to MMA and at 37 she is still one of the best strikers in the division. Holm can often get stuck in counter mode, but when she is on the offensive she likes to mix aggressive combos with single precision punches. Notice here how when she does lead with a combo it’s rarely more than three strikes at a time before she resets at range. The only thing I don’t like about these combos is that she often crosses her feet and comes forward head first when throwing. Some opponents have already picked up on this and have punished her with counters.
But Holm is at her best when methodically coming in with a quick strike and then resetting. Against Ronda Rousey, Holm didn’t want to make the same mistakes as past opponents and run into her clinch, so she timed Rousey’s movements and looked to take an outside angle to set up her left straight. This might not be the most exciting style but it has proven to be effective, especially against aggressive opponents like Rousey. Lately, she has seemed to rely more on being aggressive, but these single strikes could work wonders against Nunes, who is always looking to push the pace.
Although she comes from a boxing background, Holm’s kicks have been her main source of success in MMA. It may look like she is throwing most of these kicks with no set up, but if you watch closely you will see her feint her way into the kicks and use footwork to create a dominant angle. Holm relies a lot on footwork and likes to circle to either side from a southpaw stance to create an angle for the kick. I would like to see her set them up more, as just feints and footwork aren’t enough to have much success at the highest levels, but she does do a good job of ending her punch combos with kicks. I would also like to see her attack the body and legs more, especially against an aggressive opponent like Nunes.
Since a lot of Holm’s striking relies on movement and fighting on the outside, she uses lots of side kicks to the body and legs to keep opponents at a distance. The beauty of these kicks is that they can be used as a leading attack and as a counter. Holm is often flustered by pressure fighters and these quick kicks to the legs stop the opponent in their tracks and allow her to set the pace and distance of the fight. Her teammate Jon Jones also relies on fighting on the outside and has perfected these kicks to secure and maintain his preferred distance from his opponent.
As stated earlier, Holm often gets stuck in counter mode, which can either work in her favor or spell her demise. She possesses a nice counter lead hook and if her opponents come forward too aggressively she can again take an outside angle to set up a counter left straight. Since Nunes is almost always the aggressor, I expect Holm to rely on her counters more than ever, but the big question is: Will she have enough time to plant and counter with Nunes constantly in her face?
Usually, fighters who transition from boxing to MMA have great defensive tendencies, but Holm is an exception. She relies on footwork to evade attacks, which means that when she doesn't have room to move she can get stuck eating shots, especially since she’s not great at covering up. Against Valentina Shevchenko, Holm was routinely hit with counter lead hooks as she sloppily moved into the pocket. Shevchenko is as pure a counter striker as you will ever see and she refused to lead the entire fight. This forced Holm to come forward with wild combos, for which Shevchenko made her pay nearly every time. Nunes will certainly not be looking for counters like Shevchenko was, but that fight showed that Holm can be pulled into somebody’s wheelhouse and can end up fighting their fight instead of sticking to her game plan.
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