Ronda Rousey’s first fight after getting knocked out by Holly Holm last November will be a rematch, UFC head Dana White revealed on Wednesday. But we don’t yet if it will be a rematch against Holm or Miesha Tate, who Rousey has twice beaten with her trademark arm bar. It all depends who comes out on top on March 5th, when Tate and Holm square off at UFC 197.
White broke the news on “The Neighborhood” radio show Wednesday, where he floated the idea that Rousey’s return to the Octagon would come “probably in November.” That would make it a full year between fights for Rousey. And what a busy year it will be: by November, Rousey will have shot a movie, appeared in Sports Illustrated‘s Swimsuit issue for a second time and, hopefully, found some time to train.
In some ways, it doesn’t really matters if Rousey’s opponent is Holm or Tate. In one scenario, she’ll be fighting the woman who made her look mortal at UFC 193 in a rematch of one of the UFC’s biggest bouts. In the other, she’ll be giving a rejuvenated Tate the chance to avenge her two loses. Both promise to be dramatic fights.
That said, we’d be lying if we said we wanted anything but Rousey vs. Holm 2. Even White’s pulling for that. He didn’t say so, but he did say this: “If Holly Holm should win, the Holly-Ronda Rousey rematch is going to be the biggest fight ever in UFC history.” If you think White is going to let that opportunity pass him by, you don’t know the UFC.