Holm lost by fifth-round rear-naked choke to Tate for the UFC women’s bantamweight title back in 2016.
Holly Holm’s reign as UFC women’s bantamweight champion lasted all of one fight when she was dramatically choked out by Miesha Tate at UFC 196. With Tate coming out of retirement, Holm is interested in evening the score.
In a Q&A with Laura Sanko on Tuesday, Holm expressed her desire to make one last push for a title fight, as well as running it back with Miesha.
“My plan is to compete for the belt, so if that fight ends up being on the way there, then absolutely,” Holm said (via MMA Junkie). “I always like to avenge losses no matter what, so yes, I would like to do that, but I think sometimes you can get so fixated on one fight that you’re not focused on whatever is coming your way.
“Whatever gets you to the belt, that’s my ultimate goal and it would be awesome if I could go through and do it all,” Holm added. “Avenge my loss (to Tate), then go to the belt.”
Fans may recall that Tate’s rear-naked choke finish came in the final round of a fight she was losing on the scorecards. If Holm had seen out the fifth she would’ve won a decision and defended her title. Instead, Tate became the champion and indeed that fight was the last of her career before retirement. Holm has had title shots at both 135 and 145 lbs since then but lost all three.
In her last fight, Holm looked spectacular in her one-sided unanimous decision win over Irena Aldana in August. Preceding that was a less than exciting decision win in a rematch with Raquel Pennington, whom she’d already beaten before. While Holm says she “always like to avenge losses,” she’s never had a rematch against any of the five opponents to defeat her in MMA, although she did best Anne Sophie-Mathis in boxing after her KO loss.
Holm was lined up for a fight with Julianna Pena in May but had to withdraw due to kidney swelling. Tate meanwhile has her return fight scheduled for July 17th against Marion Reneau.