Tammy Bredy has seen very little of Holly Holm’s storied fighting career.
Can you blame a mother for not wanting to see her daughter get hit in the face?
But on Saturday night, at a family watch party of UFC 193 in Albuquerque’s Northeast Heights, even the concerned mother couldn’t look away.
“I saw the good stuff,” said Bredy. “I saw the kick.”
Yes, the kick that sent shock waves around the world that knocked out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in Melbourne, Australia, and made Holm the first woman to ever be a UFC and world boxing champion, brought out a scream from Bredy.
But it wasn’t one of surprise. It was one of relief.
The outcome of Saturday night’s fight to Bredy was determined long ago.
“My daughter has always been a very determined, strong-willed child,” Bredy said. “You don’t talk her out of things.”
And if knowing her daughter’s determination to win wasn’t enough, the wild episode at Friday’s weigh-in event sealed the deal. When Rousey accused Holm of intentionally hitting her in the face during a too close for comfort photo op and then wildly began screaming about how fake the challenger from Albuquerque was, Bredy’s confidence in her daughter only grew.
“I think a little later, (Holm) probably had a little chuckle about it, but at the time, I know that look on her face and that set jaw,” said Bredy. “I thought, ‘She made her mad. That’s not good for Ronda.'”
Whatever caused it, Saturday night proved Holm was definitely not good for Rousey, the biggest star in women’s combat sports history.
And now, as the world turns its eyes to Albuquerque to learn more about the 34-year-old new UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Bredy said there is very little more they will learn about her daughter that she hasn’t already shown.
“I think everybody’s already kind of figured out she’s a pretty class act,” Bredy said. “She’s sweet, concerning — she’s always just been a wonderful, wonderful person from the time she was a little girl.”
That little girl’s love affair with her hometown is strong, too.
“Holly has such a big heart for this whole city,” Bredy said. “She has always loved Albuquerque and she will never never leave Albuquerque.”
