UFC 196 Results: Miesha Tate Chokes Out Holly Holm to Take Title

Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate is now a UFC champion. “Cup Cake” choked out Holly Holm in the UFC 196 co-main event on Saturday to capture the title.

Holm kept Tate at distance in the opening round, landing her jab and side kicks to the body. She shook off a takedown attempt and had a higher output than the challenger.

Everything changed in the second frame. Tate ducked under a left hand and put Holm on her back. She delivered punches and elbows, softening up the champion. Holm rolled and gave up her back. Tate worked hard to secure a rear-naked choke, but Holm defended the submission attempt. The challenger dominated the second round.

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Holm rebounded in the third and fourth rounds by landing her jab, throwing kicks and stuffing all of Tate’s takedown attempts.

In the final round, Holm was putting together combinations. She was keeping Tate on the outside, but Tate rushed in with two minutes remaining and took Holm down. Holm desperately tried to get back to her feet, but Tate took her back during a scramble.

Holm stood, and Tate applied a rear-naked choke. Holm tried to flip Tate off of her back, but Tate rolled with it and held onto the choke. Holm’s body went limp and referee “Big” John McCarthy stepped in to stop it.

“We had a great game plan. I had to be patient. I had to push into those rounds. She’s very dangerous. She’s capable of catching anyone at any moment. I knew I had to play it patient and find the perfect moment. She’s a very calculated fighter,” Tate said following the fight.

Heading into the final round, Tate thought she needed a finish to win.

“I knew I had to finish the fight. I had to find that perfect time. I had to be perfect in the fifth round,” she said. “I knew the fifth round was important.”

Once she had to choke under Holm’s chin, Tate said there was no way that she was going to let go.

“I thought I had to be like a pit bull on a bone. I couldn’t leg go of it. She wasn’t getting out of that one,” she said.

The fight was Holm’s first title defense, and the new champion said she has nothing but respect for the former titleholder.

“She’s got a lot of heart. She went out like a champion. I have so much respect for this woman, and I respect her so much for stepping in here tonight and giving me everything that she had,” said Tate.

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