Miesha Tate’s long-time boyfriend and fellow UFC fighter Bryan Caraway has been having his say on who his partner should make her first UFC bantamweight title defense against, and he doesn’t think it should be Ronda Rousey or Holly Holm.
“If we just keep the cycle of Ronda always in the mix, it’s not really fair for these other girls who put together a win streak and get pushed aside,” Caraway told MMAJunkie.com.
Instead, Caraway thinks that the in-form Amanda Nunes has earned her shot at Tate’s title.
“Nunes is on a three-fight win streak and is looking super tough,” Caraway said. “She finished Sara McMann. She absolutely deserves that.”
With five wins in her last six fights, including a current three fight winning streak, the 27 year-old Nunes would certainly be a worthy adversary for Tate, but it wouldn’t draw the kind of attention as rematches with Rousey or Holm would.
Following Tate’s memorable win at UFC 196 Dana White indicated that a trilogy fight with Rousey was likely next for her, but nonetheless, Caraway is sticking to his guns and suggests that the two former champions should have their rematch first before getting back to the belt.
“I don’t think (Rousey) should come back and fight Miesha right away. I think she should fight Holly again. It doesn’t matter if Ronda beat Miesha back in the day. It’s a new age now; Miesha’s the world champion now. You can clearly see she’s a different fighter, and I think Ronda should have to beat Holly to get a shot at the belt, or a Holly rematch.”
