Why champ Miesha Tate is fighting Amanda Nunes, and not Holly Holm, at UFC 200

Many UFC fans expected women’s bantamweight champ Miesha Tate to face rival and former champion Ronda Rousey at July’s banner UFC 200. The UFC certainly teased the prospect.

Some, in particular those close to now ex-champ Holly Holm (10-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC), hoped Tate (18-5 MMA, 5-2 UFC) might instead fight an immediate rematch, who was put to sleep by the champ just four months after her shocking knockout victory over Rousey (10-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) at UFC 193.

But Tate said that when she met with UFC executives this past week in Las Vegas to discuss her first title defense, it wasn’t Rousey or Holm that led the conversation. While she was open to facing any opponent the promotion proposed for her, the UFC brass had another name in mind: Amanda Nunes (11-4 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

“They thought that Amanda was the next best girl in line,” Tate today told MMAjunkie. “They were like, ‘Look, you just beat Holly. You finished her.’ They didn’t feel that it was necessary to have an immediate rematch; it didn’t warrant an immediate rematch. It wasn’t one of those performances or such a crazy fight that we’ve got to have an immediate rematch.

“It was kind of like, ‘Let’s open up the division – we’d like you to fight Amanda,’” Tate added. “I said, ‘Cool.’ Amanda’s someone I’ve had my eye on for a while, and I know she’s had her eye on me. Now’s the time we get to get in there and do what we do.”

Tate and Nunes will now square off on July 9 at the banner UFC 200 card at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena. Nunes is on a four-fight win streak and called out Tate after the biggest win of her career, a fifth-round submission of Holly Holm this past month at UFC 196.

The booking, first announced Wednesday evening on “UFC Tonight,” was not met warmly by Holm’s management, who pushed for an immediate rematch on the grounds that Tate was given the title opportunity by the now ex-champ and Tate should grant the same in kind.

Holm’s longtime manager, Lenny Fresquez, today told The Albuquerque Journal that the decision not to stage an immediate rematch was made by Tate, and not the UFC.

“Holly was offered to her and she chose Nunes,” Fresquez said. “She chose to take a weaker opponent.”

“She’s not as stand-up as Holly,” the manager added. “She said she’d take on the best, but she’s not willing to take on the best. Holly gave her a chance. We’re pretty disappointed she didn’t return the favor.”

Tate, however, disagrees with the manager’s characterization of the circumstances that led to her title fight against Holm at UFC 196.

Tate, who previously was passed over for a title shot at UFC 193 in favor of Holm, said it wasn’t generosity that motivated Holm’s management to agree to the fight. Rather, it was a belief that she was a stopover opponent on the way to a highly anticipated rematch with ex-champ Rousey.

“I was told by the UFC that her management walked in there and told them that I was going to be a tuneup fight,” Tate said. “That is word-for-word what I was told.

“They didn’t do it as a favor to me. It’s not like they were, ‘You know, we really want to do this for Miesha, we’ll just give her a chance.’ No, they gave themselves a chance to have a big payday and remain the champion, and they thought I was going to be an easy fight, and it backfired. They did it for themselves because they thought they were going to win. They did not do it for my sake.

“So for me to turn around and say, ‘I’m going to do this for Holly’s sake,’ we both went in there (at UFC 196) never having fought each other before, both with an opportunity to win, and if Holly had won, I guarantee you she would not be giving me an immediate rematch. She would be looking to fight the next best person, either Ronda or someone she hadn’t fought. So when you look at it from that perspective, they can’t really (say) they did me a favor.

“I have beaten Holly, finished Holly, and now I want to fight the girl who’s next in line.”

MMAjunkie was unable to reach Fresquez for comment on Tate’s interview.

Prior to the UFC 196 booking between Holm and Tate, Holm told MMAjunkie that she wanted to stay active rather than wait for a rematch with Rousey, noting her busy schedule during her reign as a boxing champ. Even a proposed second fight at UFC 200, which was pushed by the UFC before Rousey delayed her comeback to recover from her knockout, was not the preference.

“It’s eight months away from my last fight,” Holm said. “That’s the biggest thing. I don’t like to wait that long.”

Tate stressed that despite her opinion, she has no ill will toward Holm and said she’d be happy to face her again down the line if they are brought back together. But for now, she’s moving on against Nunes, an opponent she’s not underestimating as a threat to her title.

And while Tate admits Holm could be a bigger box office draw, she pointed out the ex-champ’s story as proof that fortunes can change fast in MMA.

“I think Holly has a bigger name right now with the smash that she made with Rousey, but I think the thing MMA fans should have kind of learned by now is that anyone can be a dangerous opponent at any time,” Tate said. “Nobody knew really who Holly Holm was, unless you were a hardcore fan, before she beat Ronda. She became a superstar overnight. Amanda is definitely a dark horse in this thing, and everyone is really underestimating her. I’m not going to make that mistake, because I’ve been in this game way too long to underestimate someone like her.”

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