A victorious Holly Holm (photo via UFC)

By Kelsey Mowatt

Many people understood Holly Holm’s striking game was a danger to Ronda Rousey, and while the decorated boxer validated this, she also battled through the latter’s vaunted clinch game at UFC 193.

Rousey aggressively pursued Holm throughout the bout, as expected, but the challenger answered the advances with a stinging left hand and incredible footwork. After Holm repeatedly punished Rousey with punches, the fading Judoka began hunting for the clinch.

When the bantamweight star managed to track the challenger down, however, Holm was able to work her way out and resume the striking battle. Holm ended up finishing Rousey with a vicious headkick not long into round two.

After the upset win, the new champ spoke to FOX Sports 1, and Holm was asked about her ability to fight out of Rousey’s clinch. Here is some of what Holm had to say (quotes via FOX Sports 1 press release):

“I can’t tell you how many times we worked on that defense in the camp. I had the best help in the world. We did everything so many times. At Jackson Winks’ it came down to a whole game plan. Greg Jackson is the master who came up with the plan. Winkeljohn handled the standup. He kept it simple. My wrestling coach Izzy Martinez was for all the physical fight in between that makes it an MMA fight. I had the best help I could and I had no excuse to lose.”

Holm was also asked about when she felt a win was at hand, and the undefeated fighter relayed this:

“We didn’t want to be there for her counter. She has knockout power. I didn’t want to make that a habit getting hit by the counter. We needed to move and be precise. She hit me a few times. She has the power, but you have to be in range. I wanted to go forward in a smart way. I didn’t want her to bum rush me to the cage. The game plan we had worked out great.”

With the victory, the 34 year-old Holm moved her pro record to 10-0. Rousey, who had rolled through her last four opponents n less than three minutes total, saw her’s fall to 12-1.

UFC 193 took place in Melbourne, Australia.