Holly Holm was victim of 'criminal refereeing' in sickening KO loss before UFC fame and Ronda Rousey upset
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Holly Holm suffered a scary knockout loss during her Hall of Fame boxing career.
Before she slept Ronda Rousey and became a UFC champion in 2015, ‘The Preacher’s Daughter’ was an elite-level boxer, who won world championships in three different weight classes during her legendary career in the sport.
Holly Holm boasted a 30-1-3 professional boxing record when she squared off against French fighter Anne Sophie Mathis for the IBA female and WBAN welterweight titles weight classes in December 2011.
The fight ended in a shock knockout defeat for Holm, who was the victim of truly egregious refereeing.
Holly Holm got knocked through the ropes in last boxing loss
Holm was full of confidence as she headed into her fight with Mathis on a seven-year unbeaten run.
The 43-year-old MMA legend did well during the first few rounds before going for the kill when she seemingly hurt her opponent with a body shot in the fifth frame.
After that, Holm found herself in a brawl. In the sixth round, she suffered a clear knockdown, but it was ruled a slip by referee Rocky Burke, who had more embarrassing moments before the fight was eventually waved off.
In the seventh stanza, Holm was left out on her feet from a Mathis uppercut. The 26-1 contender continued to hammer her opponent with punches until she collapsed into the ropes and became tangled.
The referee allowed her to hit a defenseless Holm with several shots before separating the two women.
Rather than call the fight off, Burke let the merciless beating continue. Two more big punches were all it took for Mathis to send Holm through the ropes in a scary scene that still triggers angry comments from boxing fans.
One person fumed: "The man who reffed Holly Holm’s KO loss in boxing needs to be put behind bars."
Another commented: “Criminal refereeing in this match. He should never let her get back to the fight in that condition.”
A third person added: “The ref literally picked Holly’s soulless corpse off the ropes but still thought the fight should continue.”
Someone else joked: "Early stoppage IMO."
"Basically, she knocked everybody out," Holm reflected during a UFC interview in 2022.
"I was just the most recent one. She had these long punches that come at you, and then when they hit you, it feels like bricks are in her hands. Snapping punches can knock you out, too, but she had heavy, thudding punches."
Holly Holm gets her revenge
Holm got revenge when she rematched Mathis seven months later. This time she stuck to her box-and-move game plan to pick up a unanimous decision win.
Two more victories over Diana Prazak and Mary McGee proceeded Holm calling time on her boxing career and making the full-time transition to MMA.
UFC boss Dana White snapped Holm up after seven straight wins, which saw her claim a regional belt
Back-to-back decision victories in the MMA’s premier promotion were enough to earn her a title shot.
Holm became the first person to beat Rousey when she knocked the UFC superstar out with a head kick.
Since then, she’s won just five of her 13 fights in the Octagon. Despite that, she remains a top contender mixing it with the very best MMA fighters on the planet well into her forties.
Kayla Harrison breezed through her fight with Holm at UFC 300 in April. White said that it was time for the combat sports legend to retire before she issued a statement that suggested she would be back in 2025.
“Well, none of that went how I had envisioned over the last ten weeks of this training camp," Holm said in a video shared to her Instagram page. “I have no excuses. I had all the best coaching, the best teammates, the best sparring, all the help I could have even dreamed of asking for.
"I went out there and I lost all focus on the game plan. I did nothing that we trained for in this fight. All the respect to Kayla, she was the better fighter tonight. I just know I'm capable of more than that. I'm one of those that likes to self-reflect rather than run from things. I think honesty with yourself can sometimes be the hardest thing.
"I'm healthy. My heart hurts, my ego hurts. But I just wanted to say thank you to all the fans that have always stood by my side and of course, my team, my coaches, my family, my friends.
“Much love to everybody, I appreciate you. I'll be back."
- READ MORE:I want to fight 'until the wheels fall off' – Ex-UFC champ Holly Holm shuts down retirement talk
