Holly Holm believes Ronda Rousey will be mentally stronger due to the defeat she inflicted on her in November, after the former champion admitting she had suicidal thoughts after the loss.

Rousey was knocked out by Holm at UFC 193 in November in what was the first defeat of her mixed martial arts career.

And the former UFC women's bantamweight champion admitted during an appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show on Tuesday that she had thought about killing herself in the medical room after the fight.

Holly Holm spoke about Ronda Rousey's comments at a press conference in Albuquerque on Tuesday

Holm (right) knocked out Rousey (left) in November to claim the UFC women's bantamweight belt

A tearful Rousey admitted on the Ellen DeGeneres show that she thought about suicide after the defeat

But Holm, who defends the title she took from Rousey against Miesha Tate at UFC 196 next month, said she could not apologise for making 'Rowdy' hit rock bottom.

'I hurt for her that she feels that way because that is a very low place,' said Holm. 'When I heard that she said that, for me it's one of those things it's like, "How do I respond to that?"

'I don't want to say I'm sorry because I think on a competitive level for me, if somebody was to say they're sorry after [beating me], it's like, "no, I'm a competitor. I'm not a charity case."

'The best thing is for me not to say anything at all. I don't want to say that I'm glad that she felt that way and I don't want to say, "Oh I'm so sorry."

The knockout loss was the first of Rousey's MMA career in which she had previously been dominant

Holm said she couldn't apologise for inflicting the defeat but said she felt for Rousey, having also tasted defeat

Rousey: '[I was] Literally sitting there thinking about killing myself. I'm like: "What do I do anymore?"'

'It's something I think that you have to dig through on your own. In the long run, she'll be stronger mentally from it.'

Rousey, 29, was in tears on the US television show when she made the admission.

She said: 'Honestly, my thought in the medical room, I was sitting in the corner and was like, "What am I anymore if I'm not this?''

'[I was] Literally sitting there thinking about killing myself. In that exact second, I'm like: 'I'm nothing. What do I do anymore?'

Holm said that Rousey would grow mentally stronger through coming to terms with the defeat

The bantamweight champion's first title defence will be against Miesha Tate at UFC 196 next month

Comments about suicide were a big talking point before Rousey's last fight, when Brazilian opponent Bethe Correia saying that the American would want to kill herself after she beat her.

Rousey took the comments to be aimed at the fact that her father had committed suicide when she was younger in what she called the biggest tragedy in her life.

It sparked a bitter rivalry between the pair ahead of the fight in August in which Rousey knocked out Correia after 34 seconds of the first round.

Making another appearance on American television on Wednesday, Rousey told Jimmy Fallon she would definitely fight Holm again.