Before Miesha Tate got booked for a fight against Yana Santos at the upcoming UFC Des Moines card, she was actually pursuing a rematch against old foe Holly Holm.
More than nine years has passed since she defeated Holm to claim the UFC bantamweight title in a back-and-forth battle that ended with Tate sinking in a fifth-round rear naked choke to win the fight. As she was preparing for her return to action after sitting out 2024 dealing with injuries and other obligations outside the cage, Tate asked the UFC for the rematch but then she got word that Holm was actually out of the promotion.
“That was originally what I had my heart set on,” Tate told MMA Fighting about the Holm rematch. “It’s what I would like to have happened. Just unfortunately, missed the window on it.
“Holly, I think was already out of the UFC at the time that I reached out to her. She wanted to make it happen. I think it was just too far down the line. I don’t want to speak for either party but unfortunately it wasn’t something her or I were able to push hard enough for to make happen.”
It was surprising news that Holm asked for her release despite still having fights left on her UFC contract.
Following her exit from the UFC, Holm ended up signing with the Global Fight League and she was booked in a fight against former Bellator champion Julia Budd in May but the fledgling promotion ended up cancelling both of its debut shows. As of now, GFL is reportedly still trying to put together funding to launch but numerous athletes have already asked for their release out of concern that the company is never getting off the ground.
While the GFL may not have worked out as planned, Holm is currently pursuing opportunities for her return to boxing where she was a multi-time champion. In 2022, Holm was actually inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame so she’s obviously very accomplished in that sport.
Still, Tate had hoped she would get to run it back with Holm again before their careers were over but it just wasn’t meant to be — at least not right now.
“I feel like Holly probably asked for her release only because it’s kind of the position she was put into,” Tate said. “That’s how I feel. Of course I am not her manager, her teammate, we don’t talk on a regular basis. I don’t want to say too much. I just feel like that’s my perception of it. It ended up being what was best for her but that was based on circumstances that otherwise maybe would have been a different outcome.
“I know that we both really wanted to fight each other. We both did. But it was kind of one of those things when I asked the UFC about it, it was ‘the only way that’s going to happen is outside this organization.’ At that point I didn’t know that Holly had asked for her release. It seemed like she was willing to do one more go with me but how we uncross all those wires, I’m not exactly sure. In whatever case, it didn’t end up working out.”
In the end, Holm wanted out of the UFC and her wish was granted but Tate had no desire to leave the promotion she’s called home for the past 11 plus years.
With hopes of securing her second straight win when she returns at UFC Des Moines, Tate wants to get back into title contention sooner than later and that takes priority over any potential rematch against Holm.
“It’s a bummer but I still did want to fight for the UFC,” Tate said. “I do want that to happen so I wasn’t looking to go outside the UFC in order to make that matchup happen, at least not at this point.”
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