Former UFC Champion Holly Holm Says She'd Face Ronda Rousey in Potential Boxing Fight

Nearly 10 years after handing Ronda Rousey the first loss of her MMA career, former UFC star Holly Holm is open to a rematch in a different combat sport.

Holm, who signed with Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions this month and is scheduled to make her return to boxing in June, expressed a willingness this week to box Rousey.

When asked by TMZ Sports about the idea at the press conference for the upcoming fight between Paul and Julio César Chávez Jr., Holm said: "Of course. I think that's just maybe hypothetical. I don't think that would ever happen, but of course I would."

The 43-year-old Holm went on to suggest that she doesn't believe Rousey wants to return to fighting in any capacity after starting a husband with Travis Browne, saying: "The thing is, it all comes down to who wants to fight. She's got her family. She's got another kid that she just had. She's living her life. I highly doubt she would ever want to fight again."

However, if the fight were to ever come to fruition against all odds, Holm is confident she would win, saying: "I'm still coming out on top."

Holm started out her combat sports career as a boxer, compiling an impressive 33-2-3 record from 2002 to 2013.

She began dabbling in MMA in 2011, though, and became a full-time MMA fighter by the end of 2013.

After racking up a 7-0 MMA record across multiple promotions, Holm signed with UFC and won her first two bouts against Raquel Pennington and Marion Reneau.

That quickly earned Holm a UFC women's bantamweight title opportunity against Rousey, who was a perfect 12-0 and the biggest star in the sport at the time.

While Rousey was a heavy favorite after submitting or knocking out each of her first 12 opponents, Holm shocked her in November 2015, knocking her out with a head kick and subsequent punches to win the title.

Rousey took more than a year off after the loss before returning to lose to Amanda Nunes by first-round technical knockout at UFC 207 in December 2016.

After her second loss, Rousey transitioned into the world of professional wrestling with WWE, and she has not competed in MMA or any other combat sport ever since.

As for Holm, she dropped the bantamweight title to Meisha Tate in her next fight and never again reached the heights in MMA that she achieved when she beat Rousey.

Still, she stuck around in UFC until last year, finishing her time in MMA with a 15-7 record before returning to boxing.

On June 28, Holm will face Yolanda Ochoa in her first boxing match in more than 12 years on the undercard of the Paul vs. Chávez bout.