Holly Holm on the UFC 300 prelim card? Yes, it's true

Feb. 21—Albuquerque's Holly Holm is a former UFC champion. She has fought eight UFC main events. She has 2.5 million Instagram followers. On April 13, she's scheduled to face a highly touted, highly respected Olympic judo gold medalist with a 16-1 MMA record.

And yet, Holm's fight against Kayla Harrison is scheduled for the prelim portion of UFC 300 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Is this an insult, or at least a slight? Given the stacked nature of UFC 300, maybe not.

Then again, given Holm's résumé and her stature on the UFC roster, maybe so.

In any case, Lenny Fresquez isn't worried about it.

Fresquez, Holm's longtime Albuquerque promoter and now her agent, said the UFC has told him Holm-Harrison will be the main event of the prelim portion of the card, which will be televised on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+. The main card will be available only via ESPN pay-per-view at a price — no doubt a hefty one — to be announced later.

"A lot more people are going to watch (the prelims) than are going to buy the pay-per-view," Fresquez said.

Certainly, UFC 300 is a card jam-packed with quality.

It is, after all, No. 300.

Two UFC title fights headline UFC 300: Jamahal Hill vs. champion Alex Pereira for the light heavyweight title and Xiaonan Yan vs. champion Weili Zhang for the strawweight belt.

Five former UFC champions — Jiri Prochazka, Aljamain Sterling, Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Max Holloway — help complete the main card.

Nor is Holm (15-6) the only former UFC champion relegated to the prelim card. Two former bantamweight champions, Deiveson Figueiredo and Cody Garbrandt, are matched against each other.

Aside from Holm's résumé, there's considerable interest in Harrison, a two-time Olympic gold medalist who won her first 15 MMA fights while competing in the Professional Fighters League. Harrison will be making her UFC debut against Holm.

Fresquez also notes that, prelim or main, Holm's position on the card does not affect her pay— already determined as per contract.

Nor, he said, are the stakes any less high. If Holm is to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title she won from Ronda Rousey in 2015 and lost to Miesha Tate in her first defense, she cannot afford a loss on April 13.

"It's a big fight," Fresquez said. "Very big."

Of note is a UFC prelim fight between former Rio Rancho High School wrestler Bo Nickal (5-0) and Cody Brundage (10-5).

CYBORG'S HERE: MMA champion Cristiane Justino, far better known as Cris Cyborg, is in Albuquerque training with Holm at Jackson-Wink MMA as Holm prepares for the Harrison fight.

In December 2017 in Las Vegas, Cyborg defeated Holm by unanimous decision to retain her UFC featherweight title.

A year later, Cyborg lost the title to Amanda Nunes by first-round KO. Soon thereafter, Cyborg left the UFC and signed with Bellator, where she won that organization's featherweight title and successfully defended four times.

Bellator recently was bought by the PFL, and Cyborg was hoping to fight Harrison before the latter left the PFL for the UFC.

Cyborg, apparently unhappy with how the PFL/Bellator merge is shaking out, does not have a fight scheduled.

Of her work with Holm, Cyborg posted on social media, "Something tells me (Holm) is going to be ready for UFC 300 and that judo girl."

PFL VS. BELLATOR: Two MMA fighters with Albuquerque connections are scheduled to fight Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on a card assembled to make official the PFL's acquisition of Bellator.

Featherweight Aaron Pico (12-4), who trains in Albuquerque at Jackson-Wink, is scheduled to face fellow Bellator fighter Henry Corrales (21-7).

Boxing world champion Claressa Shields (1-1), a PFL contract fighter who trained at Jackson-Wink for her first two MMA fights, is scheduled to face Kelsey DeSantis (1-2).

It appears Shields did the bulk of her training in her home state of Michigan.

MOREU NEWS: Albuquerque boxer Sharahya Moreu is scheduled for her second pro fight on March 30 in San Antonio, Texas.

Moreu, an accomplished amateur fighter, made her pro debut in July with a victory by four-round unanimous decision over Janaisa Morandin in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Yoruba Moreu, his daughter's trainer, said no opponent has yet been signed for the March 30 fight.

The card is being promoted by Desi Martinez, a San Antonio trial lawyer, in collaboration with Fighters First management out of Atlanta. Moreu signed with Fighters First in September 2022.

COTTONWOOD BRAWLS: What originally was scheduled to be a pro boxing card in Santa Fe, with Albuquerque welterweight Josh Torres in the main event, has morphed into an all-amateur show at Cottonwood Mall on Saturday.

It's a Teresa Tapia promotion. Gates are scheduled to open at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $15 in advance (text 505-977-4471) or $20 ($25 VIP) at the gate.

Note: This story has been updated with information and insight from Lenny Fresquez, Holly Holm's promoter and agent.