Holly Holm hadn’t won a fight since knocking out Ronda Rousey in 2015 but the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion ended her losing streak emphatically Saturday against Bethe Correia.
Holm (11–3) became a superstar when she put Rousey away with a head-kick knockout at UFC 193 and she gave Correia the same treatment in the third round of the featured bout of a UFC Fight Night event in Kallang, Singapore.
It was a brisk finish to what had been a dull fight up until that point. Referee Marc Goddard even gave both Holm and Correia a warning for timidity in the second stanza, telling the fighters, “I respect the game plan but you have to make something happen.”
Correia (10–3–1) began taunting Holm early in the third round, waving her hands and inviting her to engage. Holm obliged and one minute into the round she landed a sneaky kick to Correia’s forehead. Holm framed the kick like she was throwing it up the middle but instead came over the top. She knew she could land the strike as she was successful on an attempt in the opening round as well. Holm followed up with one punch and the fight was stopped.
“One of my goals for this fight was to not let it look messy. A lot of times that’s her style, she wants to get in and make it a brawl and make it look messy. I didn’t want it to look messy. I wanted it to be clean,” Holm told reporters at the post-fight press conference. “I wanted to pick a clean shot. I wanted to do it right and the game plan was not to rush anything. We knew the crowd might boo because it’s the type of game plan that the crowd might boo and as soon as I heard that I thought, ‘I’m the one in here fighting, I’m gonna stick to the game plan and pick the right shot.'”
Also on the card, former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos made a successful welterweight debut as he handed ex-Strikeforce champion Tarec Saffiedine his third consecutive loss. Marcin Tybura beat Andrei Arlovski in a heavyweight bout and Colby Covington continued his rise up the 170-pound rankings with an upset of Dong Hyun Kim.
Here are the complete results from UFC Fight Night: Holm vs. Correia.
MAIN CARD
— Holly Holm def. Bethe Correia by knockout
— Marcin Tybura def. Andrei Arlovski by unanimous decision
— Colby Covington def. Dong Hyun Kim by unanimous decision
— Rafael dos Anjos def. Tarec Saffiedine by unanimous decision
PRELIMINARY CARD
— Jon Tuck def. Takanori Gomi by submission (rear-naked choke)
— Walt Harris def. Cyril Asker by TKO
— Alex Caceres def. Rolando Dy by TKO (doctor stoppage)
— Ulka Sasaki def. Justin Scoggins by submission (rear-naked choke)
— Li Jingliang def. Frank Camacho by unanimous decision
— Russell Doane def. Kwan Ho Kwak by knockout
— Naoki Inoue def. Carls John de Tomas by unanimous decision
— Lucie Pudilova def. Ji Yeon Kim by unanimous decision
