“I want to see it again, to see if it was real…”
After Holly Holm’s shocking defeat over – then women’s bantamweight champ – Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, many people gloated in the fall of the former champ. And none more so than arch Nemesis – Miesha Tate. Not even the heat she got from social media trolls could stop her from reveling in her foes defeat. But now that the shock and awe is over, and the reality of Holly Holm being champion is starting to settle in, even Miesha Tate must admit she wants them to run that one back again, “I want to see if it was real too”. 
“I want to see it again to see if it was real, too,” Tate explained Monday in Las Vegas to MMA Junkie. “I’m 100 percent on that page. Definitely. But they just might have to accept the terms that it won’t be a title fight because I’m going to have the belt.”
While tate admits she was impressed with Holly Holm’s performance, and she’s down for the rematch, she still thinks the current champ has a lot left to prove. And it starts with their upcoming bout this Saturday, March 3rd, at UFC 196.
“I was pretty surprised after the first round,” said Tate. “I was curious to see what adjustments would be made in the second round and there was no adjustments made on Rousey’s side,” said Tate. “They continued with the same gameplan and that led [Rousey] to her fate. Holly looked amazing. She proved that she’s one of the best strikers in the world but she’s yet to prove she’s one of the best MMA fighters in the world.”
With Holly Holm’s first 2 bouts in the UFC looking less than impressive, her coaches and manager chalk it up to the the former kickboxer “holding back.”
“I personally don’t [believe that],” said Holm. “I don’t believe any fighter goes into a fight saying, ‘Oh, I’m just going to give 80 or 90 percent.’ I feel like you’ve got to go out there and give 100 percent for every fight and I don’t think Holly is the kind of champion that wouldn’t do that or the kind of fighter that wouldn’t do that. What I believe is that Ronda forced more out of her. [Holm] had to use more. Maybe the other girls didn’t pressure her in the same way and allowed her to do what she’s comfortable doing.
“We saw Ronda really forcing that pace in a reckless way and Holly rose to the occasion. She shined. She looked great doing that. It just depends on the style matchup. Some fighters [Holm] is going to edge out in a split decision and look ‘eh’ and other fighters it’ll be ‘Wow! she looks amazing.’ It depends on the matchup.”
While we’re sure Miesha Tate is mainly looking for an angle on this one she may have a point. Holly’s first fights were less than impressive, with her first fight looking like she had zero punching power. Unless you were following Holly from her kickboxing days, you would’ve been hard pressed to pick her over the seemingly unbeatable Rousey. But alas, she had her coming out party just in the nick of time and shocked the world. Can she prove consistency with a dominant victory over one of UFC’s toughest women’s veterans? Or is she the spotty fighter that the critics claim? Only time will tell.
Be sure to tell us what you think in our comments section below and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
