UFC star Holly Holm shocked the world when he head-kicked Ronda Rousey into oblivion in 2015 and now she’s hoping she’ll get the chance to spring another monumental upset.
The former bantamweight champion, who is set to face Ketlen Vieira at UFC Vegas 55 on Saturday, could well return to boxing for a fight with undisputed lightweight champion Katie Taylor later this year.
Holm was a three-weight world champion in boxing, with 18 title defences before she decided to pursue a career in MMA.
Four years after launching her professional MMA career, Holm had amassed a 9-0 record and earned herself a shot at Rousey, who was regarded as the greatest female fighter of all time.
‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ entered the UFC 193 main event a huge underdog and turned the MMA world on its axis when she beat up and knocked out Rousey inside two rounds.
Holm lost her UFC bantamweight title in her first defence which came against Miesha Tate but has remained a perennial contender ever since and is currently closing in on another title shot.
The 40-year-old has picked up back-to-back wins over top contenders and a win over Vieira this weekend could earn her another shot at UFC gold.
However, Holm now has the option to return to boxing for what would be a huge fight with Irish superstar Taylor, who is fresh off of a career-best win over Amanda Serrano.
Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn recently revealed that Holm is in contention for a fight with Taylor who hopes to fight at Croke Park in Dublin later this year.
"We’ve had some conversations in Ireland," he told talkSPORT.
"We’ve got a lot of aggressive approaches to say, ‘Bring it to Ireland. This is time for Katie Taylor [to fight in Ireland]’. A lot of that support has come from the government which is very encouraging.
“There’s three fights. There’s Holly Holm, there’s [Cris] Cyborg and there’s Amanda Serrano. As a boxing fan, I would like to do the Serrano rematch and we're talking to their team now."
Although she’s currently focused on recapturing the UFC bantamweight title, Holm recently admitted that moving back to boxing for a fight with Taylor is something that excites her.
“I wanna go back in and show what I can do at a whole different weight class. I never even fought at that weight class when I was in boxing. I think I’m bigger and stronger than a lot of the 135ers,” said on The MMA Hour.
“It’s hard for me to think past my own fight in MMA and my eyes are still on the UFC gold but I will say this: If I was going to go back to boxing that [Katie Taylor] would be the fight that I want and it does intrigue me, a lot.
"Before I was like, ‘I’ll never boxing again’ and I’m not saying that [now].
“There’s a lot of people who’ve tried to transition back and forth and nobody has really been able to do it successfully – that drives me.
“I wanna show people I was able to come to MMA from boxing, but I can also go back. It does get me excited. “
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