Ronda Rousey’s MMA comeback analyzed by ex-rival Holly Holm: ‘She is very hard to beat’

Ronda Rousey is returning 11 years after being handed her first defeat in the cage by Holly Holm.

Netflix will enter the MMA realm on May 16 with an event headlined by Rousey’s comeback against Gina Carano at Inglewood’s Intuit Dome.

‘Rowdy’ has not competed since back-to-back knockout losses ended her UFC career. After Rousey was finished by a Holm head kick in late 2015, she fell to a similar fate at the hands of Amanda Nunes the following year.

One of the two women she failed to beat in MMA recently outlined what Rousey’s clash with Carano will come down to.

Holly Holm says Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano result will be clear after the first punches

Holm has not offered a prediction for Rousey vs Carano, but she did recently provide her analysis of the matchup.

By the time Holm transitioned to MMA from boxing, Carano was already a couple of years on from her last fight against Cris Cyborg in 2019. But ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ does have experience battling Rousey, which puts her well-placed to assess the upcoming main event.

Holm’s success against the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in judo came on the feet, and she insisted that Rousey is incredibly difficult to beat in her own wheelhouse, meaning Carano must avoid that to get the job done.

“I think whoever sticks to their game plan is going to come out with the win,” Holm told FightHype.

“Gina hasn’t been in there in a long time, but she’s also not a stranger to the spotlight. She was one of the first females to be on cable television as a main event. And so she’s been there. She’s not a stranger to it.

“Same thing with Ronda. She’s been the champion. She’s been an Olympian for a reason,” Holm continued. “She’s put a lot of work in. She is very hard to beat with, you know, with what her best skillset is. Gina’s going to have to fight to not get there.

“Ronda, we’ll see when she comes back, too. I think we’ll see as soon as the first punches are thrown. I think you can really see it where a fight’s going to go from there.”