Miesha Tate on Holly Holm: ‘I think she just crumbled under the pressure’

Holly Holm was likely just one round away from defending her UFC women’s bantamweight title for her first time at UFC 196. Unfortunately for Holm, Miesha Tate took the win and the belt by securing a rear-naked choke on Holm in the fifth round that put Holm to sleep.

“I think she just crumbled under the pressure when I took her down in that second round,” Tate told Fight Network’s John Pollock (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “My coaches and Bryan [Caraway] actually told me, ‘She’s either going to stay down and be so scared about being submitted that you’re going to ground and pound her and beat her up or she’s going to try desperately to get up. Because your top pressure is so heavy she’s going to be forced to leave something out there and you’re going to grab it and you’re going to submit this girl.’

“We saw both cases. In the second round she stayed down there and took some heavy ground and pound. In the fifth round she definitely didn’t want to get stuck down there again so she tried to zealously get up and I saw the opening and I took it. We planned for that and we assumed that was going to happen.”

While rumors have been going around about a rematch between Tate and Holm for UFC 200, no official announcement has been made by the UFC. Would you like to see a rematch between the new champion Miesha Tate and former champion Holly Holm? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section.