Following a dominant victory over Jessica Eye at UFC on FOX 16, Miesha Tate looked poised for a trilogy bout with women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
Rousey-Tate III was essentially a lock. UFC president Dana White said so himself before suddenly calling an audible and booking Rousey against former world champion boxer Holly Holm, an undefeated mixed martial artist who hasn't really blown the doors off the Octagon since making her UFC debut in February.
"I know it seems like Miesha got a bad break in this thing, but realistically when you look at this, Miesha's lost to (Ronda) twice," White told "UFC Tonight," according to BloodyElbow.com's Michael Hutchinson. "Miesha's going to have to knock a couple more people off to get to Ronda."
The only person to drag Rousey past the first round, Tate is 4-0 since dropping their second bout in 2013. Three of those victories came against top-10 opponents, while Holm hasn't triumphed over anyone in the upper echelon of the division.
"Holly Holm has won belts in boxing and is 9-0 in MMA. When we brought her in, it was to fight Ronda Rousey," White said.
The UFC is reportedly targeting a bout between Tate and Amanda Nunes at some point in December.
