Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm Rematch Will Not Take Place At UFC 200 As Originally Planned


It looks like the Ronda Rousey, Holly Holm much anticipated rematch will have to wait a bit longer.

UFC President Dana White confirmed to Yahoo! Sports that the originally planned rematch at UFC 200 in July will not take place as expected. According to White, Rousey’s commitment to the filming of the remake of the movie Roadhouse has conflicted with the fight, forcing Ronda to request more time off from the octagon. Even though she could technically do both (the filming will be complete before the scheduled fight), it would be pushing it too close, White said.

“The filming of the movie got pushed back,” White said. “She could do both, but the question is, should she do both? She could do both, but why should she? The filming is in a time frame where she’d finish before 200, but it would be cutting it too close.”

Because Ronda won’t be fighting, Dana White agreed to let Holly Holm take on another contender in a title defense on March 5 at UFC 197 against Miesha Tate. Holm and her manager, Lenny Fresquez, had been requesting an interim fight since Holm won the fight against Rousey on November 14 during the UFC 193 event in Australia, but White had been insisting she not fight again until the rematch.

The Holm, Rousey rematch could be affected if Tate was to somehow manage to beat Holm and take over the women’s bantamweight title. However, White said that is a risk he is willing to take, adding that he will give Ronda as much time as she needs to prepare for her next fight considering all she has done for the sport.

“The way I look at this one is, Ronda has worked her ass off for us for the last three years,” White said. “She’s been fighting, promoting and building the sport. If anyone deserves the time off, it’s her. The night [of UFC 193] Holly said she’d do the rematch and that Ronda deserved it and everything else. So we were holding it for her if she wanted to do it.”

“What that woman has done is above and beyond what anyone has done,” White continued. “I mean, it’s just unbelievable what she’s done in the last three years. Anything we needed, she didn’t say no to anything; said no to nothing. She even took over responsibilities somebody else was supposed to have. So when she tells me she wants more time, you know what? She’s got it.”

As the Inquisitr previously reported, Frequez was already skeptical about Ronda returning to the octagon so soon after being knocked out by Holm. He said he was concerned if she would be physically ready to pursue another fight.

“I’m not sure Ronda will be ready for a July fight,” Fresquez said. “She took a severe beating and I don’t think it’s in her best interest to take the next fight so fast. They told me she’s been ready and cleared, but…”

Frequez was also concerned about White’s original decision to have Holm wait until the rematch with Rousey to fight again. He said Holly was used to staying active, and she wanted to continue fighting until the rematch took place.

“They want Holly to wait for Ronda,” Fresquez added. “Anything can happen in the sport, but we haven’t come to terms on the rematch, and until we come to terms we just want to keep plugging away.”

[Photo by Andy Brownbill/Associated Press]

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