The biggest win of Holly Holm’s career came against Ronda Rousey. Now she’s got a second one over her.
Hear us out. Holm pulled off one of the biggest upsets in MMA history when she knocked Rousey out at UFC 193 in Australia to win the women’s bantamweight title. Rousey’s MMA career never recovered. After a loss to Amanda Nunes in her comeback fight, she moved on to other endeavors and now is a wife, mom and gets her paychecks from the WWE.
For that reason, she’s still very much in the spotlight – enough that the social media world still mentions her on the regular. Given her past status as a model in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, Rousey has some experience with her image being used a “thirst trap” on social media, as the kids say these days. And so does Holm.
Earlier this summer, Pour Moi, a lingerie company in the U.K., got to thinking about thirst traps and wondered which celebrities revved Twitter users’ engines the most. When they got their results, they broke it out to includes athletes as a separate list – and Rousey and Holm get to square off once again.
Pour Moi said it analyzed 115,000 “suggestive” tweets that featured the words “hot,” “horny” or “sexy” written about 100 different celebrities. And from that data, they arrived at their list of Twitter’s sexiest. (You can check out the results at Pour Moi here, but don’t hold us responsible if you decide to do some shopping while you’re there.)
Given the study was based in the U.K., it’s not terribly surprising half the top 10 athletes on the list are soccer … errrrr, football players. But with Rousey and Holm on the list, plus a boxer and another WWE star, nearly half the rest of the top 10 comes from one fight game or another.
Check out the full top 10 list of athletes below. And remember this:
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
10. Ronda Rousey
Known for: UFC, WWE Superstar, Olympic judoka
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 852
Mostly useful factoids: Now 35, Rousey was the first woman in the UFC and won the inaugural women’s bantamweight title … Of her 12 MMA wins, 11 were in the first round and eight were in less than a minute … her final three UFC pay-per-view title fights averaged more than 1 million buys … her movie resume includes “Furious 7,” “Entourage” and “Charlie’s Angels” … she’s married to former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne and has one child with him.
9. Jack Grealish
Known for: Soccer for Manchester City
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 1,037
Mostly useful factoids: The 26-year-old native of Birmingham, England, is a winger who came to Man City from Aston Villa – which cost Man City a reported £100 million, thought to be the most expensive transfer in British football history.
8. Olivier Giroud
Known for: Soccer for AC Milan
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 1,132
Mostly useful factoids: The 35-year-old French striker is married with four kids … Giroud was the voice of the Green Goblin in the French version of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” … He’s a longtime Puma brand ambassador, and also has been the face of Hugo Boss cologne … His beard is legendary, as are his goal celebrations.
7. David Beckham
Known for: Former soccer star, and for bending it
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 1,143
Mostly useful factoids: One of the most famous soccer players in history, Beckham, now 47, had an entire movie (“Bend It Like Beckham”) named after his skills on the field … The guy who came up with the term “metrosexual” once said Beckham is basically is the epitome of the term for his fashion prowess … He’s married to Victoria, aka Posh Spice from The Spice Girls; they have four kids … He’s worth a reported $450 million.
6. LeBron James
Known for: Basketball and for still not being Michael Jordan
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 1,154
Mostly useful factoids: “King James” went straight from high school to the NO. 1 pick in the NBA … He has four NBA titles, two Olympic gold medals, four NBA MVP awards and is an 18-time NBA All-Star … With the Lakers since 2018, he’s also had two stints with his home Cleveland Cavaliers and one with the Miami Heat … His endorsement deals are many, which has helped lead to a reported net worth of $1 billion – which still fals short of Michael Jordan’s $2.1 billion.
5. John Cena
Known for: WWE Superstar, actor
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 1,226
Mostly useful factoids: The 45-year-old Cena holds countless WWE records for title wins and has been one of the brand’s biggest stars in history … His match the Rock at WrestleMania 28 at the time was the best-selling pay-per-view in WWE history, as well as its biggest live gate … his big-screen career includes roles in “The Suicide Squad,” “Blockers” and “F9.”
4. Neymar
Known for: Soccer
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 1,279
Mostly useful factoids: The 30-year-old superstar plays for Paris Saint-Germain when he’s not playing for his home Brazilian national team … In 2020, he was listed as the fourth highest-paid athlete in the world by Forbes; his net worth is a reported $200 million … He’s been on Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World list.
3. Holly Holm
Known for: UFC, boxing
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 1,435
Mostly useful factoids: Now 40, Holm made her mark when she knocked out the previously untouchable Ronda Rousey in 2015 to win the UFC women’s bantamweight title … She lost the belt in her first attempted defense and hasn’t been able to recapture a UFC title despite multiple attempts … “The Preacher’s Daughter” was the first woman to hold a boxing world title as well as a UFC title … Along with Rousey, she’s one of only two women to make this particular list – and both were UFC champions.
2. Anthony Joshua
Known for: Boxing
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 1,526
Mostly useful factoids: The 32-year-old Brit is a former unified heavyweight champion – he held the WBA, IBF, WFO and IBO titles … Still ranked as one of the best heavyweight boxers in the world … Gold medal winner at the 2012 Olympics … Next fights Oleksander Usyk on Aug. 22 in Saudi Arabia in a rematch for the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles, which he lost to him nearly a year ago in London.
1. Cristiano Ronaldo
Known for: Soccer
Thirst-driven tweets from fans since 2019: 1,841
Mostly useful factoids: The 37-year-old Portuguese star is often considered the best footballer in the world (him or Lionel Messi) and is regarded as one of the greatest of all time … Ronaldo is a five-time Ballon d’Or winner … In 2020, Ronaldo became the first active team-sport athlete to surpass $1 billion in career earnings, according to Forbes.
