Ronda Rousey today announced on Good Morning America that her next fight will be against Holly Holm at UFC 195 on January 2nd, but it seems nobody bothered to tell Miesha Tate.
Tate is the current No.1 contender in the division after stringing together a four-fight winning streak. Her last fight with Jessica Eye at UFC On FOX 16 less than a month ago had been billed as a title eliminator and after her unanimous decision victory Dana White confirmed that she would now take on her biggest rival, Rousey for a third time despite having lost to her in both of their previous meetings.
Apparently that’s no longer the case though with the division’s No.9 contender Holm now fast-tracked to a title shot, and it appears that Tate’s camp are stunned that they weren’t informed of the decision ahead of today’s announcement.
“I’m absolutely shocked,” Tate’s manager Josh Jones of KHI Management told MMAFighting.com. “I found out just like you did. Very disappointed to hear the news.”
“I want to know the reasons behind [the decision],” Jones continued. “To not even be given a head’s up is very disappointing. She doesn’t even know yet. She is going to be absolutely shocked.”
It’s not the first time the UFC have switched up a major fight without informing the people involved and it does seem an unsavoury practice, especially since Tate has already been talking to the media talking about the upcoming fight and had begun training under the assumption that it was already a done deal.
It’s likely to be a bitter pill for Tate to swallow and she now faces the prospect of potentially having to fight another top contender first and then hope that Cris ‘Cyborg’ doesn’t become the next fighter to step ahead of her in the line to face the champion.
