Tate: I think I’d beat Holm faster in rematch
Miesha Tate: “…now I feel very confident that I could have caught her sooner. So I think I would get a submission a lot earlier in a rematch, if that were to happen.”
It took until the fifth round for Miesha Tate to submit Holly Holm and steal the UFC bantamweight title. The fight was back and forth and it’s possible without the submission, Holm would have won the decision should it have made it to the judges. Speaking with MMA Junkie, Tate believes a rematch with Holm would be different and she actually would submit Holm earlier in the fight:
I have nothing but respect for her, Tate said of the deposed champ. She was a very tough opponent, but I’m even more confident going into a second fight because I didn’t push the pace on the ground when I got her on the ground, and now I feel very confident that I could have caught her sooner. So I think I would get a submission a lot earlier in a rematch, if that were to happen.
That probably sounds like good news for Holm and her camp, who pushed for an immediate rematch and criticized the new titleholder for accepting a fight with Nunes, a charge Tate said is misdirected.
(Holm) said from the very beginning, ‘I want to be an active champion, and I don’t want to wait for Ronda,’ Tate said. So she was doing what she wanted, and I was the girl next in line, so that’s what she had to do.
Now, I have beaten Holly, I’ve finished Holly, and now I want to fight the next girl in line. Now, I’m giving Amanda that chance, if you want to look at it that way.