Holly Holm Routs Raquel Pennington at UFC 246

Holly Holm defeated Raquel Pennington via unanimous decision tonight at the UFC 246. Holm (13-5 MMA, 6-5 UFC) was better according to the judges (29-28, 30-27, 30-27) and earned another win in her prolific career.

She would defeat Pennington (10-8 MMA, 7-5 UFC) after a hard and tough battle in which she surprisingly dominated in the clinch. It was the second match between these two ladies, and unlike the previous one in which Holm won via guillotine choke, this one went to distance.

UNANIMOUS!@HollyHolm gets the UD victory #UFC246 pic.twitter.com/a1uzUZdHuJ

— UFC_AUSNZ (@UFC_AUSNZ) January 19, 2020

It is something we haven’t got used to seeing when from her in the past. Once Joe Rogan asked her did she wanted that to happen, the answer was no, but that she decided to follow the flow of the fight.

“I didn’t really have an idea, I just figured let’s just go where the fight leads,” Holm stated.

The fans didn’t see too much in this match, apart from several punches sent by Holm. Her stong uppercut was the highlight of the night, and it’s no doubt why the crowd started booing with two minutes left in the second round.

Holm would excuse herself during the interview in the ring, saying that she wanted to be better, but the match itself didn’t allow for anything more than this.

“I really wish I would’ve struck more, and I apologize I didn’t showcase any of that. She’s tough, and you never know where she’s gonna take the fight,” Holm explained. “She’ll stand, be on the clinch go straight for the takedown, I wish I’ve striked more in the clinch, elbows, and stuff I’ve been working out.”

The only thing which satisfied the 38-year old was a win, although she wanted more herself.

“We got a victory, but I still really want to be better than my performance tonight.”

Once Rogan asked her following the event what are her plans in the future, the “Hottie” as the fans call her, didn’t say anything specific, apart from expressing the desire to be the champion once again.

Following a victory over Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, Holm lost three straight fights before defeating Bethe Correira. Though, that didn’t stop her downfall as she suffered losses against Cris Cyborg and Amanda Nunes. The latter one was disastrous in a match for the UFC women’s bantamweight belt. The Lioness would knockout Holm in a vicious way.

"I want something big. I want knockouts. I want stuff like that"@HollyHolm wanted to do more damage in the fight, but she was still happy to get the win and cement her place in the division.#UFC246 live results: https://t.co/DtEugn6Psl pic.twitter.com/tNLqhRxMML

— UFC News (@UFCNews) January 19, 2020

It created many doubts about her legacy, and whether she truly was a real champion or just a person who used the vacuum in the UFC to claim the belt against average opponents.

For Pennington, this was probably one of the last chances for a breakthrough. She suffered a knockout against Nunes at UFC 224 in a bout for the women’s bantamweight title, and after that, Germaine de Randamie defeated her via a unanimous decision.

As usual, she had a lot of power and stamina but was very poor when needing to strike or to make an edge in the clinch. Holm wasn’t very dominant in this event, but nevertheless, Pennington simply didn’t know how to hurt her.

It is a big disappointment for her, no doubt, and she probably won’t get another chance to fight at the title eliminator, let alone have a shot at the belt.