Dana White: Ronda Rousey won’t rematch champ Holly Holm at UFC 200

The real reason UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm’s next fight is against Miesha Tate is because ex-champ Ronda Rousey’s schedule changed, according to UFC President Dana White.

White today told Yahoo! Sports that Rousey’s participation in a remake of the film “Road House” was paused as the production delayed filming. The resulting time crunch prompted Rousey to ask White to push back a return to the cage.

Ever loyal to Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC), the UFC’s biggest star, White said no problem and booked Holm(10-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) opposite Tate (17-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) instead of a rematch with Rousey in July at UFC 200.

“She could do both, but the question is, should she do both?” White told Yahoo! Sports of the former champ, who suffered a brutal knockout by Holm this past November at UFC 193. “She could do both, but why should she? The filming is in a time frame where she’d finish before 200, but it would be cutting it too close.”

Rousey called for an immediate rematch with Holm despite her knockout loss and a full schedule leading up to the UFC’s blockbuster summer event. There was her role in the “Road House” movie, a potential second movie role, and a recently announced hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live.”

A member of Rousey’s team expressed concern that she was jumping back into the cage too soon after her loss, which served as her first professional setback after a record-breaking run as the UFC’s first female champ.

Holm, meanwhile, expressed the desire to make a quick turnaround and fight before UFC 200.

Initially, White batted aside the idea of Holm facing another opponent until his conversation with Rousey.

White now isn’t sure when the ex-champ might return to the UFC’s octagon, but said he will welcome her back – whenever that might be.

“The way I look at this one is, Ronda has worked her ass off for us for the last three years,” he said. “She’s been fighting, promoting and building the sport. If anyone deserves the time off, it’s her. The night (of UFC 193), Holly said she’d do the rematch and that Ronda deserved it and everything else. So we were holding it for her if she wanted to do it.

“What that woman has done is above and beyond what anyone has done. I mean, it’s just unbelievable what she’s done in the last three years. Anything we needed, she didn’t say no to anything – said no to nothing. She even took over responsibilities somebody else was supposed to have. So when she tells me she wants more time, you know what? She’s got it.”

For more on UFC 197 and UFC 200, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.