UFC president Dana White has come to his senses, and realized that new UFC women’s bantamweight champion Holly Holm shouldn’t be shelved for more than half a calendar year because she dominated Ronda Rousey so thoroughly. White said that Holm’s next fight will not be against Rousey, but hasn’t said who she’ll face yet.
There is one obvious candidate, but she may be a serious threat to a big-money Holm-Rousey rematch. Here are the realistic candidates for Holm’s first title defense.
Dana White Expected Rousey To Roll Through Holly Holm
Miesha Tate (17-5)
Tate may seem like old news because MMA fans have seen her lose badly to Rousey twice, but Tate remains one of the top female fighters in the sport. Undeterred by her two Rousey losses, Tate has reeled off four straight wins, and fought her way back into the title picture. In fact, ahead of Holm vs. Rousey, many fans felt that Tate was more deserving of another opportunity.
Tate’s four wins have all come by decision, so she doesn’t have the flash of Rousey’s submissions, or Holm’s striking. What she does bring is toughness, a granite chin, and none of the hubris that led Rousey to believe she could contend with Holm’s striking. Tate’s an obvious choice, but she may be too great a threat to the real fight White wants, which is Holm’s rematch with Rousey.
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Cat Zingano (9-1)
Zingano is a fierce competitor, whose only loss was in February 2015 against Rousey. She was hyped as Rousey’s most dangerous opponent to date, but showed poorly, getting submitted a mere 14 seconds into the fight. It was a bad look for Zingano, but it was a bit of a fluke. In the biggest fight of her career, Zingano paid for being overaggressive at the start.
Zingano hasn’t fought since then, but she has a compelling argument over Tate. First, she defeated Tate in April 2013, which immediately preceded Tate’s loss to Rousey. Second, she has finished her opponent by knockout or submission 89 percent of the time. She’s a more exciting fighter than Tate, with a better record, and a win over the perceived top contender.
Amanda Nunes (11-4)
Nunes is one of the UFC’s most promising fighters, and at 27 years old she’s the youngest on this list. She has impressively defeated Shayna Baszler and Sara McMann in her last two bouts, and has an 82 percent knockout rate in her 11 wins.
Nunes also has a 2014 loss to Zingano on her record though, which makes her a tough sell to get a chance ahead of her. Of the three choices though, Holm-Nunes has the greatest likelihood of a crowd-pleasing slugfest. Unfortunately for Nunes, she probably doesn’t want to end up in a boxing match with one of the greatest female boxers ever.
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