More than a decade after one of the most stunning upsets in MMA history, the bad blood between Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm is still simmering. Following her first MMA win since that devastating loss, Rousey had some choice words for the only woman to ever defeat her.
Holm, who is back in professional boxing and preparing to face WBA lightweight champion Stephanie Han this weekend, recently told MMA Fighting that she'd always welcome a rematch with Rousey—but doubts the former UFC star would ever want it.
“I highly doubt she’ll ever want a rematch,” Holm said. “I always have said since the minute the last fight was over, I’ll always rematch her. That’s always been available. But she wanted to come back and have this win and go back and enjoy and have a win like that. No hate from me. I hope she does well. I hope she does whatever she wants with her life. That’s her life. I’d always be open to fight her again.”
Rousey didn't let those comments slide. Appearing on Up and Adams, she fired back with a mix of bravado and a surprising medical revelation.
“I said I’m retired, A and B, I think that I am a completely different fighter now. I would clean her clock and definitely now that I got that new medication,” Rousey said. “I took it before. I was diagnosed with cortical spreading depression, which was always happening in my last fights and basically why I was like I need to stop. I thought my concussions were catching up to me.”
She added, “This is the first fight where I was able to take it and when I spiked my head into the mat, that’s exactly the kind of thing that would have set me off before. I would have lost big chunks of my vision and it didn’t come back at all. It ended up working perfectly in a live situation.”
Rousey didn't mince words: “I definitely have the ability and opportunity to be able to f*cking clean her clock.”
Fans and fighters alike have been buzzing about the possibility of a second clash. Many remember vividly how Holm dismantled Rousey at UFC 193, leaving the then-champion unable to eat solid food for days. Social media lit up with reactions, ranging from skepticism to outright mockery of Rousey's bold claims.
Former MMA champion Cris Cyborg tweeted, “There is no world where Ronda is willing to relive the risk of another fight against Holly.” Another fan wrote, “Please, Dear God, please, let Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey fight again. I haven’t gotten enough of Ronda being knocked stupid.”
One commenter dismissed Rousey's confidence: “'I think I am a completely different fighter now and would clean her clock'…since she knocked you out, you got knocked out worse….took 10 years off….beat a woman in her mid 40s off of a 17 year layoff…but suddenly you will KO Holm? K.”
Despite the trash talk, a rematch seems unlikely. Holm, now 44, has returned to boxing after leaving the UFC in 2025. She dropped the bantamweight title in her first defense after beating Rousey and failed to capture another UFC belt in three more attempts, winning just five more fights before departing the promotion.
Rousey, meanwhile, has made it clear she's retired. But if the right offer comes along, fans might finally get the rematch they've been waiting 11 years to see. For now, the verbal sparring will have to suffice.
For more on Rousey's recent return, check out Ric Flair's prediction that she would dominate Gina Carano. And for a look at her journey back to the cage, see the story behind her body paint swimsuit photo that resurfaced ahead of the fight.
