Miesha Tate went for the kill in the fifth round and submitted Holly Holm with a rear-naked choke to become the new UFC women's bantamweight champion in the UFC 196 co-main event.
Related: VIDEO - Tate puts Holm to sleep with vicious rear-naked choke
The reign of "The Preacher's Daughter" came to an abrupt end at the hands of Tate, who has been chasing UFC gold for years. Through the first five minutes, it was evident that Tate would be a greater challenge to Holm than even Ronda Rousey.
Holm comfortably held Tate at bay in the first round, but the second was a completely different story. The fighter formerly nicknamed "Takedown" did just that against Holm, and once the action hit the ground, Tate patiently dissected the champion. She landed elbow after elbow, softening Holm up for an extremely tight rear-naked choke attempt:
Holm's defense held until the horn sounded, though Tate established that her wrestling was a major concern for Holm's corner.
In rounds 3 and 4, Holm looked more like the fighter who decimated Rousey last December. She stuffed Tate's takedown attempts and strung together combinations to put herself in position for a decision win or a fifth-round finish.
Unfortunately for Holm, it was Tate who would find the finish. She ducked in off of a Holm punch to score a huge takedown before advancing to back control. Her weapon of choice was the rear-naked choke again, and this time Holm couldn't power her way out of it.
An attempt to slam Tate out of the hold only sunk it in deeper. The champion was left punching at air as she passed out from the choke, making Tate the winner.
It was the second UFC title shot for Tate after having to wait four years since falling short in her first opportunity. She becomes the second woman to capture both the Strikeforce and UFC women's bantamweight championship belts, joining her rival Rousey.
