It's hard to believe that Holly Holm's grappling skills are still in question. She has turned back every media takedown attempt in getting her to trash Ronda Rousey.
The latest attempt came earlier this week when the UFC women's bantamweight champion, who will make her first title defense at UFC 196 against Miesha Tate in less than a week, was asked about Rousey's assertion on the "Ellen DeGeneres Show" that she still considers herself undefeated, MMA Weekly revealed in a press conference video.
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"I feel like that's OK with me, Holm said. "Maybe that's something that's coming out of her mouth that really doesn't want to fully take in everything."
The champion, aware that reporters are hanging on her every word, prefaced the rest of her response by explaining how she deals with a loss and isn't saying that's how everyone deals or should deal with losing.
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"I know for me, any loss that I've had, I look at it like -- it is a very, very hard thing to swallow, but you've got to be honest with yourself," she said. "Everybody's mental game is different; for me, when I've been there, I lost that fight. Why did I lose that fight? I lost focus. I didn't perform well. I didn't do what I was supposed to do, and for me, I needed to be honest with myself in order for me to get better. I didn't want to feel like, 'Well that was just kind of a freak deal' because then I feel like I wouldn't have changed things.
"And like I said, if you're quoting all this, this is how my mind works. I'm not saying this is how other people's minds are supposed to be."
Rousey's manager, however, does believe that Rousey is looking at the loss differently than Holm would. Rather than use it as a learning tool to get better, Rousey may be using it as affirmation that it's time to get out of the UFC for good.
Lenny Fresquez, Holm's manager, already has proposed a Holm-Cris "Cyborg" Santos fight, according to the Los Angeles Times.
"But Holm's manager is highly skeptical that Rousey wants a rematch with Holm," the Times reported.
"That's my theory," Fresquez said. "I hope I'm wrong. I haven't been wrong yet.
"That's why I offered the ["Cyborg"] fight at 140. We'd take that fight if Ronda needs more time to make up her mind."
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