Manager: Holly Holm turned down UFC 198 fight with 'Cyborg,' wants Tate rematch

Cristiane Justino will make her long-awaited UFC debut this spring against the relatively unheralded Leslie Smith.

But there was potential her 140-pound catchweight fight at UFC 198 in Brazil could’ve been a true blockbuster bout. The UFC offered former bantamweight champion Holly Holm (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) the fight with “Cyborg” Justino (15-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), but the ex-champ turned it down, paving the way for Smith (8-6-1 MMA, 2-2 UFC) to get the biggest fight of her career.

Instead, Holm’s agent, Lenny Fresquez, told her hometown Albuquerque Journal, she is waiting for what she hopes will be a rematch with new champ Miesha Tate (18-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC).

“We were not interested in that right now,” Fresquez told the paper. “(Holm) just wants to fight Miesha.”

UFC 198 takes place May 14 at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil, and the main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass. The “Cyborg” fight with Smith is part of a card jam-packed with some of Brazil’s most legendary fighters.

Earlier this month in the UFC 196 co-main event, Holm lost her title to Tate when she was choked unconscious in the fifth round. She was up three rounds to one on the judges’ scorecards going to the final round, but Tate dominated her that frame and put her to sleep to win the belt.

Holm won the title this past November at UFC 193 in one of the biggest upsets in MMA history when she knocked out Ronda Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC). But Tate turned the tables on her a little more than three months later.

Fresquez said he’s hopeful Holm will get another crack at Tate, and there may be some things working to the former pro boxer’s advantage in that regard. After UFC 196, UFC President Dana White said Tate would likely have her first title defense against Rousey – who has beaten her twice. But Rousey isn’t expected to be ready to fight until November while she attends to previously booked movie commitments.

At the same time, Tate has mentioned that while she’s OK waiting that long to fight Rousey, she’d also prefer to be a more active champion than waiting eight months for her first title defense. And on Wednesday night, White told ESPN’s “SportsCenter” the UFC 200 mega-card on July 9 in Las Vegas might wind up with a women’s title fight.

Given the strawweight belt is being contested the night before UFC 200 at the TUF 23 Finale, and that’s the only other UFC women’s belt, that would mean the promotion is considering getting Tate on the card – potentially against Holm in a rematch. If that happens, the top of the card will be deja vu to UFC 196, when Holm-Tate were the co-main event to Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz – whose rematch now headlines UFC 200.

“Miesha was in Australia on vacation, so (UFC executives) were supposed to get with her this week,” Fresquez said. “Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks we’ll know. But whether it’s Miesha or Ronda, those are the fights we’re interested in. (Fighting Rousey or Tate) is pretty much what Holly wants to do. If they have something else, it’s my job to present it to her. I’ve made her wishes known to them.”

At a news conference in Albuquerque for a Saturday card featuring some of her teammates from the Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA gym, Holm, the Journal reported, said now that she’s not the champion, she’s at Tate’s mercy.

“I really want that rematch, but I’m not the one with the title now,” she said. “I’m not the one with the belt. So I have to be patient and wait for that opportunity to come. Right now, what’s on my heart is the rematch. (But) I don’t necessarily want to be too picky, either. I’m the one coming off a loss. I can’t expect to have everything handed to me, so we’ll see what happens.”

Holm’s loss to Tate was the first loss of her MMA career.

For more on UFC 198 and UFC 200, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.