Chael Sonnen wouldn’t be surprised if Holly Holm becomes a two-time UFC women’s bantamweight champion.
Tomorrow night (July 6), Holm will challenge “champ-champ” Amanda Nunes for the 135-pound gold. Nunes puts her bantamweight title on the line for the fourth time. The championship clash will serve as UFC 239‘s co-main event in Las Vegas.
While the betting odds are in Nunes’ favor, Chael Sonnen believes that Holly Holm is not to be underestimated. In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Sonnen explained why he doesn’t expect Holm to make things easy for Nunes:
“It would seem that this fight is gonna take place on their feet. And when you look at the stance, you look at that left high kick of Holly. I mean Holly’s got a long way to go. Someone’s not gonna just come over and steamroll Holly. She’s in great shape, she moves a lot, she’s got good head movement, she uses her whole body. The knees, the elbows, she’s creative. It’s just one of those things where even if you go and grab a round or two, you still got a gal standing in front of you with more world championships than I can even produce for you right now off the top of my head in three different sports. Boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. That’s just a hard night out. That’s just a hard, gritty, tough night out.”
While Sonnen said he isn’t exactly predicting a victory for Holly Holm, he did make it clear that he feels “The Preacher’s Daughter” has a shot at dethroning Nunes.
“I’m not even predicting for you guys an upset. But I will add a commentary that Holly Holm can most definitely win this fight. This is a three-sport world champion who’s going to be in large part, if history is evident of how this fight is gonna go, [fighting] in her realm which is the standup. She’s gonna have to deal with a tornado. Every other girl’s had to deal with that same tornado.”
Nunes hasn’t lost a bout since Sept. 2014. If Holm can defeat “The Lioness,” then she’ll snap Nunes’ eight-fight winning streak.
Can Holly Holm defy the odds once again to become a two-time UFC women’s bantamweight champion?