One of the most unfortunate twists of fate in MMA belongs to "The Preacher's Daughter" Holly Holm: her peak in her UFC career came while she was at her least skilled as a fighter.
When Holm came to the UFC she was a decorated multi-division women's boxing and kickboxing champion and that made her the perfect foil for the judoka Ronda Rousey. In the main event of UFC 193 back on November 15, 2015, Holm used her ability to dictate the range with her lanky limbs to keep Rousey out of grappling distance, then once she had frustrated her to the point of trying to brawl, Holm's pinpoint striking led to one of the most iconic knockouts in UFC history.
Holm hadn't simply beaten a champion, she’d flattened the inaugural champion who had become a media sensation by destroying all on-comers.
The highlight went all around the world, made Holly Holm something of a household name - at least a piece of important sporting trivia - but it also flattered to deceive. Holm lost the championship in her very next bout to Miesha Tate and, from then until this weekend's UFC Vegas, had a UFC record of 4-4
The reason why is obvious: she came into the world of mixed martial arts without a "mixture" of martial arts at her disposal. She only began to learn wrestling in 2010, when she was 29, and reportedly only began to develop the offensive techniques in 2016 following the aforementioned loss to Tate.
Ketlen Vieira chokes Holly Holm. /Zuffa
For anyone else, this would be too little too late but two wins back-to-back in 2020 over Raquel Pennington and Irene Aldana - her first consecutive victories in five years - made her second ranked in the bantamweight division and showed there was still life in Holm. Then 2021 hit and a combination of COVID restrictions and injuries, to her and her opponents, meant she would be out of competition for 19 months and be 40 when fighting fifth-ranked Ketlen Vieira, widely considered one of the major prospects in women's MMA.
In the opening round, Vieira came out looking a step faster and little bit faster with her punches. Yet not even halfway through the round, Holm showed that her year-and-a-half out wasn't wasted as she locked Vieira in a clinch against the cage, neutralizing everything her opponent had, including Vieira's multiple attempts at reversing the position.
Round 2 began the same way - only Holm could anticipate the speed of Vieira, and several minutes in the clinch had sapped her power too. For over a minute, Holm used her incredible boxing footwork to outmanoeuvre Vieira and chip away with her trademark push kicks.
Holly Holm and Ketlen Vieira exchange punches. /Zuffa
However, when they did get close, Vieira threw Holm to the ground with a hard judo throw and later, when they were back against the cage, she locked Holm in a deep standing choke that Holm escaped by turning inwards rather than trying to pull away and out.
While her offensive grappling was designed to neutralise rather than damage, and her defensive grappling was designed to switch to this neutralising position rather than escape, it's clear that Holm's skills were no longer rudimentary and finally, at 40 years old, 13 fights into her UFC career and 20 fights into her MMA career overall, The Preacher's Daughter was now a genuine mixed martial artist - and she used these skills to spend the final three rounds coming forwards with her classic kickboxing combinations and limiting Vieira with the clinch against the fence.
According to UFCstats.com, throughout the fight, Holm outstruck her opponent 188 to 122, with 96 to 85 in significant strikes and Holm had 10 minutes and three seconds of control time over Vieira compared to 84 seconds - and she lost.
When ring announcer Joe Martinez announced Ketlen Vieira won by split decision (47-48, 48-47, 47-48), Holm stormed away in anger while Vieira dropped to the mat in tears of relief. It was a close fight as neither woman did much damage to the other - but those immediate reactions suggest the fighters know who really won.
(Cover: Ketlen Vieira gets her hand raised by referee Jason Herzog following her split decision win in the women's bantamweight main event of UFC Vegas: Holm vs. Vieira at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, May 21, 2022. /Zuffa)