Holly Holm, the woman who turned the MMA world on its head with her stunning knockout of Ronda Rousey last year, suffered her second successive defeat in the main even of last night's UFC On Fox 20 in Chicago.
Holm, the only fighter to have held major world titles in both boxing and MMA, was soundly out-pointed by Valentina Shevchenko in a star-making performance from the 'The Bullet' who has announced herself as another serious player in a women's bantamweight division currently in flux thanks to Rousey's absense and the belt seemingly changing hands every time it is contested.
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Holm began as the aggressor, taking the first round via a knockdown but then lost the following four to drop the decision in a fight she was favoured to win.
The defeat moves Holm even further away from the the title picture in a division it seemed she was on the cusp of ruling after seizing power from Rousey.
Valentina a completely different level, made the former champ look very ordinary. Expected much better hands from a boxing world champion?
— Coach Kavanagh (@John_Kavanagh) July 24, 2016
Speaking to the media after the fight, Holm explained that she needs to believe in her abilities a lot more than she did against Shevchenko.
(I have to) just get back in there and go forward. I know I’m capable of more. I think I just need to believe in myself a little more. I know I can do more than what I performed like tonight. Valentina is really tough. We know that. We knew everything – counter-punching, clinch, trips, all that … it’s not like I haven’t been taught the right things. It all comes down to my performance, and it wasn’t great tonight.
In the co-main event Brazilian muay thai expert Edson Barboza got the better of Gilbert Melendez in an entertaining brawl, taking home a unanimous decision. 'El Nino', once considered to be one of the world's top lightweights, has now lost four of five bouts in the UFC since joining the organisation from Strikeforce in 2013.
Francis Ngannou, the once-homeless fighter who we profiled a couple of days back, handed Serbian slugger Bojan Mihajlovic his first defeat in a decade - and took just over 90 seconds to do so.
Ngannou boasts some serious power and this win - his third in the UFC since December - should announce him as a new player in the UFC's heavyweight division. A step up in competition will surely come next for the Cameroonian.
Elswhere on the card, Felice Herrig took home a Performance of the Night bonus for her 1st round rear naked choke victory over Kailin Curran and there was also wins for Eddie Wineland and Darren Elkins.
The real takeaway from this card though is Shevchenko's underdog victory over Holly Holm. With Ronda Rousey still in the midst of a self-imposed hiatus from the sport, her eventual return - if indeed she does come back - will see her rejoin a division vastly different to the one she left.
The three biggest names in the women's bantamweight picture - Rousey, Holm and Miesha Tate - are all coming off losses. With new champion Amanda Nunes, surging contender Juliana Pena and now Valentina Shevchenko all in the mix, was last night the next step in the changing of the guard in the 135lb division?
Holly Holm, a prize-fighter, is still forced to defend why she chose...to fight. Imagine that. Sure, she's 0-2 since, but she still got paid
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 24, 2016
We constantly criticize fighters (and in particularly new champs) for not remaining active but Holm gets berated w/ this nonsense. Crazy.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 24, 2016
