When Holly Holm and Yana Santos made their way to the octagon, it was set to be a battle to determine who’d maintain their position in the convoluted bantamweight title picture.
Holm, a former champion, was looking to right her ship after dropping a controversial decision to Ketlen Vieira last May. Prior to that, “The Preacher’s Daughter” had rattled off back-to-back wins over Irene Aldana and Raquel Pennington.
Santos, also a former featherweight title challenger, was also looking to get back into the win column after fans saw her knocked out against Alanda in July 2021. Since then, the woman known as “Foxy” took time away from competition to welcome a child to the world with fellow fighter Thiago Santos.
But after 15 minutes of action, Holm emerged victorious with a surprising wrestling-based attack.
See social media reactions following their fight inside the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.
H O L L Y!!! @HollyHolm #UFCSanAntonio
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) March 26, 2023
Refreshed Holly Holm with the new 6 fight contract! She looked great. Super aggressive #UFCSanAntonio
— Niko Price (@Nikohybridprice) March 26, 2023
That was a lot of tackle and grapple
— Sodiq Yusuff (@Super_Sodiq) March 26, 2023
Holly too strong!
— Jamie Mullarkey (@jamie_mullarkey) March 26, 2023
Lmao I'll try that again. I say roadhouse every time Holm throws a sidekick lol auto correct did me dirty
— Chris Curtis The Action Man (@Actionman513) March 26, 2023