Breaking The Mold: The Secret Behind Holly Holm Beating Ronda Rousey!

Posted on November 20, 2015 by Daniel Martinez, One of Thousands of Performance Coaches on Noomii.

It’s funny, a minute after Holly Holm defeated Ronda Rousey most people said, “I Told You So…”

Really, they didn’t know. Not beyond a shadow of a doubt. Hell, it’s MMA; anything can happen. Still, in an emotional post-fight interview Holly Holm revealed the secrets to beating the seemingly unbeatable Ronda Rousey.

First let me say: Ronda Rousey is a champion. This blog is not a knock on Ronda by any stretch of the imagination. Ronda is and will always be great- no debate. This is about Holly. Holly’s preparation, training, belief, and doubt.

Doubt

Doubt is a crazy thing. When talking about doubt Holly revealed something honest and true: there were many times in camp where she doubted. Times she would sit in her car after practice and cry because of doubt. Times she would go to bed with doubt. Times she woke up with doubt. Yes, there were times she doubted her chances to beat Ronda Rousey. People were shocked by her answer. And it shows that people put too much weight on the word “doubt.” Fans of fighters seem to believe that if a fighter allows doubt to enter their mind for a second then they will lose the fight. That is simply not true. Too much poison and toxic energy surrounds the word “doubt.” People have begun to truly see doubt as one of the worst things that can happen to a person. But, they couldn’t be further from the truth. Doubt can be inspirational. Doubt can put the fear of god in a person; so much so, that they allow themselves to be motivated by it. That is what Holly did- she embraced doubts and in turn went back to the gym to train the doubt out of her mind. Was it always gone, I doubt it. But that’s ok. Doubt in not the terrible monster everyone has allowed it to become. Without doubt you can’t have belief. You can’t even begin to recognize true belief without feeling doubt.

Even if Holly walked into the stadium with a shred of doubt in her mind it didn’t matter; she was able to see the belief her camp had in her abilities. The belief her husband had in her spirit. The belief her teammates had in her skills. As people, we all have to take a page from Holly’s book. We have to embrace doubt and allow it to motivate us to be better. Allow it to push us past what we believe is possible. And, in the end, if you still doubt- recognize it, embrace it, and lean on everything that led you to the moment. That’s when belief can begin to take over. Your training, your family, your gym, your coaches, your preparation, your everything. Just go out and perform. Holly did it. You can do it.