UFC 200: Miesha Tate Set to Defend Title Against Amanda Nunes
The Ultimate Fighting Championship pulled off a surprise once again by announcing that women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate will be defending her title against Amanda Nunes, the No.4 contender. The fight will reportedly be part of UFC 200 in Las Vegas on July 9.
This is a rather confusing move by Dana White since everyone was expecting him to give former champion Holly Holm the rematch. Tate took the title from Holm last month via submission in the fifth round at UFC 196.
With this development, it certainly is looking like Tate is destined to face another ex-champ, Ronda Rousey in a fight slated at the end of the year. The decision to pit Nunes instead of Holm can be viewed as the safer route for Tate to meet Rousey. By all accounts, Holm lost her chance of proving to the world that her win against the once undefeated Rousey was no fluke.
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Although Nunes is just ranked fourth, she actually holds a decent record of 5-1 in the UFC, with the only loss against Cat Zingano at UFC 178 back in 2014, where she was knocked out in the third round.
Tate was never expected to win against Holm, who at that time was the fighter everyone was talking about after knocking out the popular Rousey. Tate played the role of a spoiler by grabbing the 135lb title from Holm through a submission in the fifth round. Although she lost to Rousey in 2013, she never tasted defeat after that, having won all her last five fights, according to Sports Illustrated.
This time, it is her time to show the mixed martial arts world that her victory against Holm was not about luck. But instead of squaring it off once again, she may have an easier time against Nunes, who still is relatively inexperienced in big money fights.
