Miesha Tate expects February return, thinks Ronda Rousey might go 0-2 against Holm

Miesha Tate

No great surprise here, but UFC women’s bantamweight contender Miesha Tate wants the title shot she was promised. She isn’t in favor of a second go-around between champ Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey.

“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.

Tate (17-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC), who anticipates a February return to the UFC against an unknown opponent, argues she’s a better candidate for the title. Of course, she’s not an unbiased source given her longtime rivalry with Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) and her title aspirations. But she argues Rousey simply doesn’t have the time to rebuild after a brutal knockout against Holm (10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) at UFC 193.

“It wasn’t a competitive fight, and Holly has the perfect style to beat Ronda,” Tate said. “Holly’s already back in the gym training; she had no injuries from the fight. She 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. She’s going to be even more prepared, and I don’t know if it’s a smart move, because Ronda might go 0-2.”

None of Tate’s criticism extends to Holm, whom she said is “an awesome athlete and representative of the sport.”

While not officially announced, the UFC is planning to match Holm and Rousey at UFC 200 on July 9 in Las Vegas. The banner event is expected to host the promotion’s biggest stars and deliver big numbers at the box office.

In July, the UFC publicly announced Tate would be next to fight for the women’s bantamweight title after her fourth straight win, which came via decision over Jessica Eye at UFC on FOX 16. But the promotion changed its mind, saying Tate needed to earn more wins, and announced Holm as the next contender.

Tate turned down a proposed matchup with surging bantamweight Amanda Nunes and was critical of the promotion’s choice. Since then, she’s been awaiting her next fight.

“I’m not exactly sure who yet, but I would like for it to be the title fight,” she said. “But that doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen. So I’m just waiting to hear back from the UFC.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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