Tate: Was Holm vs. Rousey ‘real’?

When Holly Holm crushed Ronda Rousey, many fans had a question. Did Rousey have an off night, or is Holm, who had a split decision win over Raquel Pennington last year, a vastly better fighter. The questioners included Miesha Tate, who fights Holm for the belt on Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 196.

“I want to see it again to see if it was real, too,” said Tate, as transcribed by David St. Martin for MMA Fighting. “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.”

“I was pretty surprised after the first round. I was curious to see what adjustments would be made in the second round and there was no adjustments made on Rousey’s side. 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.”

Holm’s coach Mike Winkeljohn has suggested that Holm held back vs Pennington.

“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.”