Miesha Tate turned down Holly Holm rematch, says coach

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate turned down a Holly Holm rematch, says Holm’s coach Mike Winkeljohn.

Tate and Holm first met back at UFC 196 in March 2016. In what was one of the most incredible comebacks of all time, Tate came back in the fifth round and choked Holm out to win the women’s 135lbs title. It was a night of upsets, as Nate Diaz submitted Conor McGregor that same night. Of course, it was also over five years ago now, and so much has changed in the three years since then. For Tate, she was retired for the majority of that time before recently returning to active competition. Holm, meanwhile, has never been able to recapture her belt at 135lbs, though she has remained active in the weight class.

Following Tate’s return to the UFC back in July, she defeated Marion Reneau and announced that she was making another title run. Holm was then offered to her as an opponent, but Tate reportedly turned down the rematch in favor of a fight against Ketlen Vieira. Speaking to MMAFighting.com’s The MMA Hour recently, Winkeljohn confirmed that Team Holm looked into the possibility of getting the rematch with Tate. However, Winkeljohn says that Tate turned down the fight with Holm, suggesting her focus is on the title at 135lbs instead.

“We tried. Miesha said no. I’m surprised. She’s ranked No. 8 or something like that, Holly’s No. 2 and No. 1 doesn’t want to fight her. Why is she so worried about the belt at the moment. She has a ways to go. I’d love for Holly to fight for the title and then fight Miesha later. But Holly just wants to fight,” Winkeljohn said of a potential Tate vs. Holm match.

Who do you think would win a rematch between Miesha Tate and Holly Holm?