Holm reacts to Rousey’s suicide remark
Sherdog was able to talk to Holly Holm, the woman responsible for that loss, to get her opinion on Rousey’s remarks on the talk show.
In a shocking interview on the Ellen Degeneres Show yesterday, former UFC champion Ronda Rousey revealed she contemplated suicide after her loss at UFC 193 to Holly Holm. The interview went viral and fans erupted on Twitter with polar opposite reactions. Some fans were proud of Rousey for having the courage to talk about such a serious issue in public and others scolded her for being a bad role model to young girls about dealing with losing.
Sherdog was able to talk to Holly Holm, the woman responsible for that loss, to get her opinion on Rousey’s remarks on the talk show:
There’s a lot of things around that. When I heard that she said that, for me it’s one of those things it’s like, ‘How do I respond to that?’ Holm said. I don’t want to say I’m sorry because I think on a competitive level for me, if somebody was to say they’re sorry after [beating me], it’s like, ‘No, I’m a competitor.’ I’m not a charity case.
I feel like that’s something the best thing is for me not to say anything at all. I don’t want to say that I’m glad that she felt that way and I don’t want to say, ‘Oh I’m so sorry.’ It’s something I think that you have to dig through on your own. In the long run, she’ll be stronger mentally from it.
The lowest point of Holm’s combat sports career came during her professional boxing days, when she suffered a devastating knockout loss to Frenchwoman Anne Sophie Mathis on Dec. 2, 2011. It was Holm’s first loss in 24 bouts since 2004, and a rare sight to see her so thoroughly decimated.
Seven months later, Holm avenged the loss, taking a unanimous decision over Mathis in a strategically sound performance in her home state. She hasn’t lost a bout in MMA or boxing since. But in the hours, days and weeks following that loss, Holm admits there was an emotional rebuilding period.
I know when I did go through [my loss], I needed the help, the support around me. But also it was a very sensitive subject, she said. A lot of things that people said, depending on who it was and who maybe experienced that were like, ‘Oh I know what you’re going through.’ I’m like, ‘You don’t really know what I’m going through because it’s a different situation.’ Every situation is different.
While Holm was dejected after the loss to Mathis, she credits her team and family for keeping things in perspective. Still, there is a part of Holm that can empathize with Rousey, because she knows what it means to give so much of herself only to come up short.
I hurt for her that she feels that way because that is a very low place. I did have a lot of help around me to where I did not feel that way, Holm said. People would say, ‘Oh it’s not the end of the world.’ I was like, ‘Well that’s exactly what it feels like, the end of the world.’
