After a layoff that spanned nearly two years and a couple of bout cancellations, Holly Holm felt she put together a fight-winning performance against Ketlen Vieira on Saturday night.
While she had popular opinion in her corner, two of the three cageside judges saw things differently, as Vieira emerged with a controversial split-decision triumph in the UFC Fight Night 206 headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Michael Bell and Derek Cleary submitted 48-47 scorecards for Vieira, while Sal D’Amato had it 48-47 in favor of Holm. Meanwhile, 18 of the 20 media submitted tallies for Holm, according to MMADecisions.com.
“It’s just frustrating, because I think a lot of times these judges haven’t been through a training camp and see what you put on the line, and then when it comes short, just because they decide, ‘Well maybe I’ll throw this round here or this round there,’” Holm said on the UFC Fight Night 206 post-fight show on ESPN+.
“I don’t agree with them. I’m pretty upset with them. I know it’s a hard position to be in, to be the judge, you have to make that decision right there, but I felt like I won.”
Holm did well in the clinch, logging 10:03 of control time, and she also out-landed her opponent 96 to 85 in significant strikes and 188 to 122 in total strikes. Holm did her best to stay busy with offense in the clinch but admitted that she wanted to be more effective in those situations.
“I wanted to be more damaging there,” Holm said. “Yeah, there was the punches and I could hold her there, and she’s usually really good with her trips off the cage and stuff like that. She got me off of my feet a couple times, but that’s her game, and I was able to shut it down. But I still wanted to be more damaging in those areas.”
Vieira had her moments, as well, including a tight standing rear-naked choke in Round 2 that appeared to have Holm on the verge of tapping out before she escaped. What also isn’t evident in the statistics is that Vieira appeared to land the more damaging strikes on the feet, even though Holm had the greater volume. Still, Holm was confident that she did more to win the fight on a round-by-round basis.
“I felt like she had Round 2 but at the end of the fight, I truly felt in my heart that I won the fight,” Holm said. “So I’m disappointed. I really don’t give her three rounds. You would have to give her three rounds to win the fight. I don’t really give her three rounds. But I always want perfection on my side so I want to make it so clear that there’s not even a question but I really felt like I won the fight.”
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