Instead of the expected rematch against Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm’s title defense has been reported to be against top contender Miesha Tate at UFC 197. Mike Winkeljohn joined Submission Radio to speak about the match up, and Holm’s long time coach made it clear that they aren’t underestimating Tate.
Despite beating one of the most dominant champs in the past years, Winkeljohn doesn’t necessarily think that they’ve already fought their toughest test yet.
“No. It was the hardest in that she was up against this legendary status and the pressure was incredible that way – although, being the underdog takes a lot of pressure of you. But there’s different styles out there,” he said. “Miesha Tate is gonna scramble all day long, where Ronda was gonna try to get quick submissions. There’s a difference how that plays out. So in many ways, Miesha Tate is more dangerous than Ronda Rousey.”
“There’s a lot of girls in the division that have a lot of things. You know, Sara McMann hits so hard. You know, Amanda Nunes is incredible, and Julianna Pena’s good. There’s a lot of girls out there that can really fight, and styles make fights. It’s one of those things where we have to kind of be prepared for the person we’re fighting.”
All that said, Winkeljohn also notes that overall, that doesn’t necessarily mean that Rousey still isn’t the toughest match up out here.
“Not overall fighting, but for different parts of the fight there are women out there that can be tougher than Ronda Rousey. You know, in the scramble I think Miesha Tate is better than Ronda Rousey.”
As for fighting again on UFC 200 just a few short months after defending her title against Tate, Winkeljohn says that’s the goal.
“I hope so. You know, that’s Holly. She has fought five times in one year, so she’s active. She has that Cowboy Cerrone mentality where she just wants to fight and get through this thing,” he said. “She likes to fight. So in a perfect world, that’d be fantastic. Let’s have her fight, go fight whoever they give us. Show the world that it’s not one-and-done with Holly Holm, that she can destroy the next person.”
“And then, if Ronda has the guts to do it again, let’s do it again for some big money. And that’s great for those girls.”
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