The women's bantamweight division is about as intriguing as it has ever been in the UFC. There are three women who have held the belt in the past couple of months, and it now seems like anyone can win on any given night.
Miesha Tate is the current champion after beating Holly Holm in early March at UFC 196. Tate's next fight has been talked about a lot considering there were plenty of options. Ronda Rousey is the biggest name that was mentioned, but Tate didn't want to wait for Rousey to be ready. Holm thought that she deserved an immediate rematch, too, but Tate will instead be fighting Amanda Nunes at UFC 200.
Holm turned down an opportunity to fight Cris "Cyborg" Justino in the hopes that she would get a rematch with Tate right away. Holm had her heart set on that rematch and is now extremely disappointed that she will have to wait. Tate claims that UFC brass thought Nunes was the best opponent for her first title defense, but Lenny Fresquez, Holm's agent, does not think that was the case.
"They tell me Tate chose (Nunes)," Fresquez said. "Holly was offered to her and she chose Nunes. She chose to take a weaker opponent. She's not as stand-up as Holly. She said she'd take on the best, but she's not willing to take on the best. Holly gave her a chance. We're pretty disappointed she didn't return the favor."
Holm likely does deserve a rematch, or at least another title shot, considering she knocked out Rousey, something that nobody else in the UFC had ever done, but the UFC didn't like the timing. It is very possible that the UFC is trying to build Tate's brand so that when, and if, she does face either Rousey or Holm for the title in the future, the fight will be huge. For what it's worth, Tate's manager claims that a rematch between Tate and Holm was never on the table for UFC 200.
As for Holm's next move, she wants to get back in the octagon for a non-title fight as soon as possible, despite her agent saying that she should wait for a chance at the belt. It would make a lot of sense for Holm to fight Rousey in November in the UFC's first New York event. Rousey is planning on coming back in November, the UFC has already said that Rousey would be a great option for their debut in New York, and Holm vs. Rousey would be a fight for the next title shot more than likely. We will have to see if the UFC can make that happen, but for now, we can look forward to Tate's first title defense against Nunes.
