Holly Holm isn’t done with MMA just yet.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Holm (15-7 MMA, 8-7 UFC) announced last week that she’s returning to the boxing ring for the first time since 2013. “The Preacher’s Daughter” revealed that she has signed with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and is set to face undefeated prospect Yolanda Vega (10-0) on the undercard of the Jake Paul vs. Julio César Chávez Jr. event, scheduled for June 28 in Anaheim, California.
Before transitioning to mixed martial arts, Holm captured multiple world titles in boxing and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2022.
She parted ways with the UFC earlier this year by mutual agreement. Initially, the 43-year-old appeared poised to continue her MMA career after signing with Global Fight League (GFL).
“I did, and it's one of those things, you know, I think a lot of people (did)”, Holm said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday. “I was hopeful and I put my work in thinking, ‘okay, we've got a fight coming up’, but I also don't throw all my eggs in one basket. I wanted to make sure to always just be training and be ready. And one thing about training my whole life and just being dedicated is that I've been able to have options, so GFL, you know, that whole fight got canceled, and unknown if it's even going to ever happen. So, I'm thankful that I have the options to be able to go back and pursue boxing and be able to be on a big card out in California. I'm excited for it.
Holm had been scheduled to face former Bellator champion Julia Budd (17-6) on the inaugural GFL event, which was originally set for next Saturday. After the promotion failed to launch as planned, Holm revealed that she had been staying prepared to transition back to boxing as a backup plan.
“I wanted to do both regardless, I did”, Holm told Helwani. “I wanted to do both if I could. And so there was already some days I was just boxing anyway when it was kind of questionable on the fence and so I've actually just kind of been training boxing focusing on boxing for I guess last couple months I guess, so it is something that I already wanted to do is to come back and box at 135.”
