Holly Holm Is Frustrated with the Judges’ Decision at UFC Vegas 55

Adam Fishkin

May 23, 2022

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight titleholder Holly Holm isn’t happy about how things played out in the UFC Vegas 55 headliner.

Last Saturday, Holm (14-6, 7-6 UFC) faced Ketlen Vieira in a 135-pound clash that will likely determine the next challenger at the divisional championship, once the Juliana Pena-Amanda Nunes rematch goes down. While it appeared that “The Preacher’s Daughter” was in control of her opponent and actually outstroke Vieira in significant and total strikes, ultimately two of the three cageside judges sided with the Brazilian, who took home a narrow split decision. The mixed martial arts media who watched the clash scored it almost unanimously in favor of Holm, according to MMADecisions.com.

The 40-year-old Holm expressed her frustration with the decision in the post-fight press conference, stating that she did more than enough to win that fight.

“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.’ 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.”

After a nearly two-year hiatus, Holm entered the cage riding a two-bout win streak following decisions over Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana at UFC 246 and UFC on ESPN 16, respectively. Now, she is eager to get back on track and start climbing the rankings once again. During her latest appearance, Holm had to survive a solid rear-naked choke attempt by Vieira during the second period.

“I wanted to be more damaging there,” Holm added. “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 of 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. 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. 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.”