Rival: Another Rousey beatdown on the horizon
There will be no revenge for Ronda Rousey, just another asskicking.
At least that’s what Miesha Tate, Rousey’s toughest opponent before Holly Holm, said she believes. Rousey will have her chance to regain the title of UFC’s top woman fighter when she takes on Holm at UFC 200 on July 9 in one of the most anticipated fights in the sport’s history.
But Tate says it won’t be much of a challenge for Holm, whose boxing style dominated Rousey during a stunning November upset, which ended with a vicious secondround knockout kick.
“I’m not a fan of the rematch in that amount of time, because with everything else that Ronda has going on, plus her injuries, I just don’t think it’s going to amount to a good outcome,” Tate told MMAjunkie Radio. “It wasn’t a competitive fight, and Holly has the perfect style to beat Ronda. Holly’s already back in the gym training; she had no injuries from the fight.”
Tate has her own reasons for saying this, perhaps angling to convince UFC president Dana White to allow Holm to fight her in February instead of enduring a full eightmonth layoff between the two HolmRousey matchups. Rousey’s facial injuries were so severe she was issued a sixmonth medical suspension. And she is filming a “Road House” remake that would have kept her out of the octagon anyway.
“[Holm] knows she’s fighting Ronda next, but she gets this whole time to fix maybe even the little things she wanted to improve on in the fight,” Tate said. “She’s going to be even more prepared, and I don’t know if it’s a smart move, because Ronda might go 02.”
Tate has lost to Rousey twice, but was considered the toughest challenger of her unbeaten reign and was widely expected to be Rousey’s opponent for a third time before UFC shockingly named the undefeated, unproven Holm as the challenger for a fight that was then moved up from January to November.
White won’t be swayed by Tate’s opinion. He has scoffed at the idea of jeopardizing a HolmRousey bantamweight title rematch even with Holm openly frustrated with the long layoff.