Miesha Tate Will Defend Her Title at UFC 200, But Not Against Holly Holm or Ronda Rousey
Hint: her opponent is a Brazilian brawler.
Sorry guys, but Dana White lied to us. After Miesha Tate choked out Holly Holm to win the UFC women’s bantamweight belt, the UFC prez assured fans that her first title defense would be against Ronda Rousey. Not so.
On Wednesday’s UFC Tonight, the announcement came that Tate will fight Brazilian Amanda Nunes at UFC 200 in July. “I asked to fight the next best person in line and that’s what they told me. This is Amanda Nunes. She’s the one,” Tate said.
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— Dana White (@danawhite) April 7, 2016
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She also explained that fighting Rousey wasn’t an option because the former champ is not expected back into the ring until “November or December.” There’s no way in hell she was waiting that long to defend her title.
As for an immediate rematch with Holm? “It was her first defense, she wasn’t successful,” Tate said. “It’s not like she was a long-reigning champion, and I finished that fight.”
That leaves the 27-year-old Nunes, whose 5-1 UFC record includes three wins by TKO, one by submission and a unanimous decision in her last fight against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 196.
As the UFC 200 fight card fills up, there remains one big mystery: Is there something more? White has previously said that when the full lineup is announcement “minds will be blown.”
The McGregor v. Diaz re-match will be fun and Tate’s first title defense is a big one, but our minds are decidedly not blown. There must be more coming.