CHICAGO – Holly Holm entered her UFC 196 title defense against Miesha Tate with a scorching trail of momentum stemming from her unforgettable knockout of Ronda Rousey months earlier. Now without the belt in her possession, Holm can take a step back and focus on what’s important.

The most important thing for Holm (11-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) going into Saturday’s UFC on FOX 20 main event against Valentina Shevchenko (12-2 MMA, 1-1 UFC) is simply to win, and do it by any means necessary. That’s what it’s going to take if she wants to get back to the women’s bantamweight title she lost to Tate in March, which is now held by Amanda Nunes.

“If I don’t win here, then what opportunities are going to be there? I don’t know,” Holm told reporters at today’s UFC on FOX 20 open workouts. “I need to make sure I get through this weekend and do a good showing this weekend first.”

UFC on FOX 20 takes place at United Center in Chicago. The card airs on FOX following early prelims on UFC Fight Pass.

The way in which Holm lost the 135-pound belt could crush some fighters beyond repair. Her contest with Tate was relatively close over four rounds, but it seemed Holm was just a slight step ahead the whole way. That all changed when Tate scored a key takedown in the fifth frame, though. “Cupcake” climbed onto Holm’s back, dragged her into position for a rear-naked choke and locked in the submission until “The Preacher’s Daughter” went completely unconscious.

It was a bitter pill to swallow, but one Holm said she didn’t run away from. She faced the fallout of the outcome head on and believes that will be of benefit to her moving forward.

“Live and learn,” Holm said. “I’m just trying to make sure I’m learning from my experience rather than feeling like it defeated me completely. Yes, I was defeated in that fight, I lost that fight. The more honest I am with myself the more I’m going to want to get better and learn from it. The best thing to do is stay honest with myself.

“My dad always says, ‘Never be afraid to be alone with your own thoughts.’ Sometimes I do. I just needed to sit down, ‘Why did I lose this fight? What do I need to fix?’ Not that I hadn’t been working on trip defense, not that I hadn’t been working on my grappling, but obviously that I need to have quicker reactions with that. Just put in some hard work.”

Holm’s athletic history shows she should rebound with a force at UFC on FOX 20. She’s never lost two fights in a row during her time in boxing, kickboxing and MMA, an accomplished that reveals much about her character and resolve.

The former champ is aware there’s a first time for everything, though, and Shevchenko is more than capable of putting Holm on the first two-fight skid of her career. Knowledge of that reality, however, is what makes Holm so confident in victory, she said.

“I do feel like I can’t lose,” Holm said. “It’s a pressure and I use it as a positive way I guess, but I’m hoping I’m going to keep that true that it’s not going to be two losses in a row. Anything can happen when you’re in there. I just like to be honest with myself. You get in there and you don’t know what can happen in a fight, but I’ve been training hard and I just need to make the performance happen.”

Holm, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sport/MMAjunkie MMA women’s bantamweight rankings, could be in for a handful against No. 10-ranked Shevchenko. Although the Kyrgyzstan native hasn’t had as high profile a combat career as Holm, her history can’t be scoffed at. Holm said she wouldn’t dare underestimate her upcoming foe.

“She’s got a ton of muay Thai background, and let me tell you, those muay Thai fighters are tough as nails,” Holm said. “She’s been through battles before. She’s been through hard fights and she’s very mentally strong, very physically strong. I feel like that just makes for a tough opponent. This is definitely a different style than my previous fights have been, so I really just want to take one second of every minute at a time.”

After Nunes took the UFC women’s bantamweight title with a first-round domination of Tate at UFC 200, the division has once again been turned on its head. No champion other than Rousey has been able to keep a grip on the gold for even a single defense, and that includes Holm.

She’d like to think she can get back to the top and hang on to that position longer than her first run, but with so many unexpected events in the weight class, Holm said it makes it that much more important to focus on the task at hand.

“I believe our division is very tough, it’s very competitive,” Holm said. “I believe a lot of the girls are very tough in our division. Ronda coming in and being such a dominant champion kind of created this drive in our division for people to want to rise above. After I got the title it showed people it’s possible to accomplish more.”

For more on UFC on FOX 20, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.