Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White was quick to bash Holly Holm’s longtime manager, Lenny Fresquez, following her defeat at UFC 196, insisting he cost her a lot of money for not holding out for a rematch against Ronda Rousey.
But to hear “The Preacher’s Daughter” tell it, those comments are false, as it was her decision to face Tate before taking on Ronda again.
Because at the end of the day, she didn’t want to sit around and wait for a big money fight that had no date attached to it. She explained her stance and defended her manager on a recent appearance on The MMA Hour.
“Well, all of that is false. I always said I wanted to fight, and there was still no sure time when Ronda is going to be back. So they say that there is all this money coming from that fight, but what if that fight doesn’t even happen? What are we waiting for? Nothing. You only make money out of that fight if it is actually going to happen. So we didn’t know what was going to happen and I don’t fight for money. I fight because I am passionate about it. So when we didn’t know if she was going to be back right away, then we thought let’s get another fight going. And that was me who said I wanted another fight. I definitely said I wanted to fight sooner than later. That was 100-percent me, my decision. They would never make me take a fight without my blessing. No one in my camp has ever told me I should do something one way or another. That is something I wanted to do, I wanted to fight. He has been nothing but supportive for me and my career and he only looks out for my best interest. It’s frustrating when people put down the things he works so hard for. I said I wanted this fight, that is the bottom line. I don’t care what people say about me, but I care when people are negative abut the people around me and are supportive. It’s something I wanted and he pushed for on my behalf.”
The loss to Tate (see it again here) ruined any chance for Holm to rematch Rousey in the foreseeable future.
But since “Rowdy” hasn’t established an exact timetable for her return, she could get an instant do-over against “Cupcake” sooner, rather than later. Should it happen, she won’t exactly be fighting for peanuts, either.
Oh, and White still insists he isn’t mad about the UFC 196 fallout.