(via Getty.)
Following her shocking upset win over Holly Holm at UFC 196, the general consensus seemed to be that she would defend her title against rival Ronda Rousey next, despite the fact that Rousey a) had not competed since her loss to Holm at UFC 193 and b) still had not offered a timetable for her return. Regardless of the UFC’s plans, Tate told reporters shortly after the fight was announced that she didn’t foresee Rousey returning to the octagon anytime soon.
“She’s obviously said that she’s so emotional to the point where she’s considering crazy things and it’s like this is a broken woman,” said Tate during an appearance on The Jay Mohr Show. “I don’t know if she’ll ever come back the same.”
For the time being, it appears that Tate might be onto something. Last night, it was announced that Tate would be making her first title defense at UFC 200, and the opponent was probably the last person you’d expect…
It’s not Rousey, it’s not even Holm, but Brazliaian slugger Amanda Nunes that Tate will be facing next. The news was first broke via Ariel Helwani on Twitter and confirmed shortly thereafter by UFC officials.
Currently 5-1 in her UFC career with 4 stoppage victories, Nunes is fresh off a unanimous decision victory over Peruvian prospect Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 196. In the evening’s post-fight press conference, Nunes was adamant that she should be next in line for a title shot, claiming that Rousey and Holm should first have to battle before facing Tate. The newly-crowned champ seemed open to the idea, and wouldn’t you know it, the UFC actually went with the sensible route for once.
As for what this development says about the MMA future of Ronda Rousey, well, that’s a little more cloudy. It definitely isn’t a good sign that she has once again gone completely off the radar, in any case, especially considering how fired up she seemed after hearing of Tate’s title win.
“I texted Ronda — Ronda wasn’t watching the fight. I text Ronda and she said ‘what happened?’, said Dana White to reporters following UFC 196. “I said ‘Miesha just choked her unconscious’ and she said ‘looks like I’ve got to get back to work.”
Unfortunately for Dana, that work was the female-centric Road House reboot, it seems.
The Tate vs. Nunes title fight will be joining what is already an insanely stacked card in UFC 200, which will be headlined by a welterweight rematch between Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz.
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