Europe

“Conny Future” reflects on becoming first Swedish female PFL fighter – and why timing was perfect

Published

February 15, 2023

Photo by Stefan Romare

Swedish MMA fighter Cornelia “Conny Future” Holm is ready for her biggest challenge yet as she just signed a deal with major MMA promotion Professional Fighters League.

The Swede will fight as a flyweight in the brand-new regional tournament PFL Europe 2023 with $100,000 dollar cash prize on the line. The tournament winner will also get a chance to take part in the promotion’s $1 million dollar world championship in 2024.

Speaking exclusively with Frontkick, the Gothenburg-based fighter opens up on the massive opportunity and the fact that she’ll be historic as the first Swedish woman to enter the PFL cage.

“It feels great to sign with the PFL, especially as I’m the first woman from Sweden to fight in this prestigious organization,” Cornelia Holm says. “And big things like this always come at the right time.”

Holm, a former IMMAF World and European champion, explains why the timing of the signing couldn’t have worked out better as she had just felt like she was at a somewhat of a crossroad while reflecting on her MMA career.

“This past fall and winter has been depressing, I went through kind of a life crisis to be honest. I felt like I wanted to move on with my life, but at the same time I didn’t want to give up on my MMA career. Then a big thing like this came up and I just wanted to go for it. Signing with PFL is huge and worth all the training and investments.”

Cornelia Holm: “I’ve been waiting for this”

The 34-year-old started her training camp just after New Year’s, as she trained with Lina Länsberg as well as Pannie Kianzad, before heading back to the west coast, to her home at GBG MAC, where she’s been training for the past ten years.

On Saturday March 25, Holm will make her PFL Europe debut. At this moment, the Swede doesn’t know who she will face, but you can tell she’s ready to fight anyone that comes her way.

“Shit, I’ve been waiting for this. I’ve actually trained with Mafalda Carmona (one of the PFL Europe flyweight’s, editor’s note) in Portugal a while back, and I have a feeling I will face her,” Holm laughs.

Cornelia “Conny Future” Holm. Photo via Instagram (@connyfuture)

Lived on the margin since 2015

Back in November, Swedish welterweight Sadibou Sy won the PFL world title and the $1 million dollar prize check that comes with.

Sy’s championship run helped putting the rising organization on the map for Scandinavian fighting fans. Now, Holm will fight in the inaugural European tournament – and the $100,000 dollar prize money is hell of a motivator for “Conny Future”.

“It shows that this is a good path to follow as a fighter. I love this sport so much, but at the same time I want to make money. I’ve been a professional athlete since 2017, and lived on the margin since 2015. That’s the life crisis, I’m 34 years old and sick of living on the margin. And, you know, I’m also at that age when you start to think about starting a family.”

Cornelia Holm moves down a weight class

Holm fought her first two professional bouts at flyweight before moving up to the 135 lbs division. However, she always felt like moving down to flyweight again, if the money was right and the fight made sense.

Securing a spot in PFL Europe 2023 checked off all those boxed.

“I’ve liked it at bantamweight and felt strong in the weight class, but I’ve sometimes been a bit too short. If I lose weight in a healthy way, I should stay strong at flyweight as well.”

In July, Holm won a decision against Roza Gumienna at Oktagon 34, just to take a short-notice title bout in Canadian MMA promotion Pallas Athena Women’s Fighting Championship the following month.

“In retrospect it wasn’t the smartest move, but do you want to be a smart coward or a fighter? I just wanted to fight! I faced a mountain-giant from the Rocky Mountains in Melissa Croden. I’ve never been scared ahead of a fight but she was intimidating,” Holm laughs.

“She was tall, like 180 centimeters, but also had as muscular shoulders and legs as me, and I’m 164 centimeters. For some reason we weighed in two days prior to the fight, instead of one, which was really weird.”

Here’s the PFL Europe 2023 schedule

The PFL Europe league starts on March 25 and will follow a point-based scoring system. The competitors will fight twice during the regular season, before the four fighters with the most points in their respective weight class will advance to the playoffs and finals.

“This is the opportunity of a lifetime. I’ve been waiting for this, and I’m here to go all the way,” Holm assures. “PFL Europe is the first step and I’m looking to win the entire thing and hopefully moving on to the world league thereafter.”

Check out the PFL Europe 2023 schedule below!