A pioneer of mixed martial arts, Miesha Tate understands the need to run it back with Holly Holm one day.
Miesha Tate captured the women’s bantamweight title in a come-from-behind buzzer-beater performance back in 2016. With just 90-seconds left before Holm ran away with the 135-pound belt in her first title defense, Tate sunk in a rear-naked choke out of desperation. Pulling off the unthinkable, Tate put Holm to sleep in the fifth and final round. Tate was then tasked with facing none other than Amanda Nunes in her first title defense, only to be eviscerated on the feet in a single round.
Following her unanimous decision loss to Raquel Pennington in 2016, Tate decided to step away from the Octagon for five years. Upon her comeback, “Cupcake” faced Marion Reneau and dominated her in the third round with a ground-and-pound TKO finish. Since Holm and Tate have a history, the 35-year old Tate believes fans will always have an appetite for that rematch.
“It wasn’t Holly for the reason that I feel like that’s like a golden egg fight,” Tate explained recently on The MMA Hour. “That’s like a fight that we could do at any time, any point, it’ll never die. It’s like Diaz-Conor 3 — it’s like it’s always kind of available and there. So I wanted my next fight to be a proper climb in the rankings. I don’t want to come in and insult the division. I don’t want to come in and say, ‘Oh, I should be fighting a top-1 or top-2 [bantamweight],’ and Holly, she’s ranked No. 2.”
Tate believes she’s already mapped out the blueprint in order to face Holm again. First, it starts with her reported match-up against Ketlen Viera on Oct. 16. The second leg will be challenging for gold, and, of course, win and then finally face Holm in a superfight for the same belt they fought for in 2016. This time around, though, Tate asserts that the gold will be around her waist when the two meet in their rematch.
“In my mind, the way that I have this played out, that I really want it to be, is that I win the title and then Holly fights me for the title,” Tate explained.
“That would be like my perfect storm, my perfect scenario. But you know what? Either way, before this is all said and done, Holly and I will fight each other. I’m not dodging her. She’s great and everything, I appreciate her, but I think time and place is very important. So right now that’s not the fight we’re looking for, but we’ll get there eventually. Hopefully, when I’m the champion she’ll be able to challenge me for the belt.” Tate concluded.
The #8-ranked Tate is well accustomed to climbing the bantamweight ladder and is prepared to do so once again. With Holm placed six spots above Tate in the UFC rankings, the former champion visualizes getting past Ketlen Vieira in October and then voicing these potential match-ups into existence.
Would you like to see Miesha Tate fight Holly Holm again?
