Miesha Tate explains how Ronda Rousey “mentally beat herself” against Holly Holm

At UFC 194 Holly Holm put on a nearly flawless performance against Ronda Rousey topped off with a 2nd round KO to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight championship.

While the UFC brass would have liked Holm and Rousey to have their highly anticipated rematch at UFC 200 in July, Rousey’s busy film schedule won’t give her enough time to prepare for a fight at UFC 200, let alone the biggest fight of her career.

Instead the UFC booked Miesha Tate to fight Holly Holm at UFC 197, which then became UFC 196 on March 5th.

Ahead of her fight with Holm, Tate spoke to Fox Sports to discuss why she believes Rousey beat herself before her fight with Holm.

“I think Ronda went into that fight with Holly thinking, ‘If I don’t finish this girl in under two minutes, I’m already a failure,’ and she went in there with such desperation to get a quick finish. She had 25 minutes to get that fight to the ground and submit Holly. I think Ronda is capable of that, but I think she mentally beat herself up after not being able to do that in the first round. Hey it’s OK, you have 20 more minutes, like, relax for a second.

“She just went out there like a charging bull in a china shop and she allowed Holly to play the perfect game plan. Holly was the matador, Ronda was the bull. The bull fell victim.”

Tate certainly brings a different style to the Octagon than Rousey did. Do you think she will present a tougher challenge for Holm? Sound off below PENN Nation!