Ex-champ Holly Holm leaves UFC, will explore free agency

Former champion Holly Holm has left the UFC and will explore free agency.

Holm, a former women’s bantamweight titleholder in the promotion and a boxing Hall of Famer, still had fights left on her contract, but asked to be released. Her request was granted, and she now will look for other opportunities in MMA or boxing, her agent Lenny Fresquez told MMA Junkie following an initial report from Ariel Helwani.

Holm (15-7 MMA, 8-7 UFC), 43, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history a little more than nine years ago when she knocked out heavy favorite Ronda Rousey with a head kick at UFC 193 to win the women’s 135-pound title. The loss was the first of Rousey’s career.

But Holm lost the title to Rousey rival Miesha Tate four months later and never recaptured it. She had a shot to win back the title, plus two shots at the UFC women’s 145-pound belt in which she fell short.

The loss to Tate set off a 2-5 slump with setbacks against Valentina Shevchenko, Germaine de Randamie in the featherweight title fight, Cris Cyborg in a featherweight title fight, and Amanda Nunes in her final shot at the 135-pound belt.

Holm exits the UFC on a second-round submission loss to two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time PFL champion Kayla Harrison at UFC 300 in April 2024. That was on the heels of a submission loss to Mayra Bueno Silva nine months prior, though that was overturned to a no contest when Silva failed a drug test.

She started her MMA career in her native New Mexico in 2011 and within three years had a Legacy FC title. Soon after, she was in the UFC and after wins over future champion Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau, she got her shot at Rousey.

The stunning knockout in Australia was a double bonus winner and most outlets’ Knockout of the Year. It cemented Holm’s status as an MMA star, as well.

Holm is one of the most decorated women’s boxers in history with 16 title defenses spread out over three divisions. She was a two-time Female Fighter of the Year from The Ring magazine, was inducted into the International Women’s Boxing Hall of Fame in 2017 and the International Boxing Hall of Fame five years later.

Boxing opportunities for Holm could come against the likes of Cyborg, whom she lost to in the UFC. Cyborg’s status as Bellator champion could be up in the air, but she’s also boxed in recent years.