Holm was riding high off her shocking victory over Rousey, and she was trying to cement her status as the new top female fighter in the company.
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“I just had to hang on for dear life, essentially”, Tate said.
It’s Holm’s first title defense in the UFC since beating Ronda Rousey, and Tate’s second shot at UFC gold (the former Strikeforce champion lost her belt to Ronda Rousey, who then became UFC champ when the Strikeforce women were brought into the UFC).
Conor McGregor and Holly Holm were expected to be the stars of the night on Saturday at UFC 196, but both would end up losing via rear naked choke in a pair of exciting, if ultimately shocking, matches. If she can work her grappling successfully, she can win this fight.
“I knew I had to finish the fight”.
UFC featherweight champion McGregor was choked into submission by Nate Diaz in a stunning reverse. “Nothing surprised me except for that I got hit at all”.
UFC boss Dana White had said in the lead-up to the fight that it was hard to deny McGregor at the moment, and a fight against Lawler would definitely draw an enormous pay-per-view audience.
Aside from the co-main events other featured fight includes Gian Villante vs. Ilir Latifi; Corey Anderson vs. Tom Lawlor; and Amanda Nunes vs. Valentina Shevchenko.
“I’ve waited so long to hear you say that” she beamed as commentator Joe Rogan introduced her as the new and undisputed champion at her third attempt. Holm hasn’t really been tested on the ground, but that is largely due to her striking and footwork.
“[Diaz was] afraid to look me dead in the eye”, McGregor told Fox Sports Live. “And maybe they’ll let me raise the 12th Man flag now”.
This was Holm’s first defence of her belt since defeating Ronda Rousey back at UFC 193 and she herself made a decision to take the fight before offering Rousey a rematch later on in the year. However, Rousey, McGregor, and Holm have helped the sport re-enter the mainstream. Rousey had stated that she was rooting for Holm, so she would have a chance to avenge her only loss, which came to Holm in November. “This was a way to introduce Holly comprehensively, and it was also a cool way to fold in her team and all the other fighters and characters”.
Instead of fighting Rousey for millions, Holm was left without a title and facing a comeback of her own.
“It wasn’t the right move to shake her off my back”, she said. It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down, it’s how many times you get back up. “I had to learn how to just focus on the fight in front of me, and that’s what I’m doing now with Miesha”.
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“I feel like we had a great gameplan, we had to be patient”.
