Saturday night in Singapore, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm, and women’s bantamweight title challenger Bethe Correia will square off in a highly anticipated bantamweight showdown.
Ahead of the fight, the two women actually shared a sauna while attempting to make weight for their highly anticipated showdown Saturday night in a showing of good sportsmanship before a fight:
Profissionalismo! 👏👏@BetheCorreia e @HollyHolm fazem sauna juntas antes do #UFCSingapura > https://t.co/heM8TF8zWz pic.twitter.com/Vvjlwp1PIt
— UFC Brasil (@ufc_brasil) June 16, 2017
“It’s war, but we’re professionals! We lose weight together in the sauna! @bethecorreia vs @hollyholm #ufcsingapore”
Going into the fight, Holm is looking to snap a 3-fight skid that saw her lose the women’s bantamweight championship to Miesha Tate, before then dropping a unanimous decision to Valentina Shevchenko. Most recently, Holm made the jump to 145 pounds to fight Germaine de Randamie for the inaugural women’s featherweight title, in a fight she lost via unanimous decision.
Bethe Correia on the other hand is coming off a majority draw to Marion Reneau back in March, which followed a split decision win over Jessica Eye at UFC 203 nearly a year ago.
Going into the fight, Holm’s striking coach Mike Winkeljohn spoke to MMAFighting to explain why Holm is in ‘do or die’ mode going into the fight:
“Yeah, it could be [do or die], yeah,” Winkeljohn said. “If she loses this fight, it actually could be die. I can’t really see Holly retiring on a loss, and she’s not going to lose. So it’s not [so much] do or die, it’s just a do situation honestly.”
“I can’t see Holly losing,” he said. “I really don’t. She’s looking really good, great game plan. She’s got some really good people helping her out. Joey Villasenor, one of the old Pride fighters who helps out at the gym has really been in her head on a few things, as far as what can help take her to a new level. And we’re excited about it.”
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/16/2017.