“She went out like a gangster,” Dana White said of Holly Holm’s loss to Miesha Tate at UFC 196.
Although Holly Holm lost her bantamweight title to Miesha Tate at UFC 196, “The Preacher’s Daughter” made the rounds with the grit and determination she showcased in the final round.
Holm, who became an overnight sensation when she dethroned Ronda Rousey via head kick at UFC 193, found herself caught in a rear-naked choke in the 5th round but refused to tap out. The former boxing world champion lost consciousness and said in the post-fight interview that the thought of tapping out never entered her mind.
Whilst UFC president Dana White criticized Holm’s decision to take a fight with Miesha Tate instead of waiting for a mega-money rematch with Rousey, the UFC president had nothing but admiration for the way she went out against “Cupcake”.
“She went out like a gangster,” White said on the Max and Marcellus show (h/t Dave Doyle of MMA Fighting). “She gets choked, she held on, she tried to fight the choke.”
White was also impressed by Tate’s discipline to apply the choke despite Holm’s defense.
“Holly Holm technically did everything right to fight the choke,” White said. “She went up against the fence so Miehsa couldn’t get her other hook in. Then Miesha held on to that choke so tight, she knew she was getting choked, so she got off the fence and tried to dump her on her head, and Miesha still didn’t let go. Those two women both, the way Miesha took that drop on the head, and the way Holly didn’t tap, gangsters.”
After Holly Holm’s upset loss, it’s now expected that Ronda Rousey will complete her trilogy with Miesha Tate at the end of the year.