UFC president Dana White blames Holly Holm's management for costing her Ronda Rousey rematch as Miesha Tate reignites feud

Holm lost her women's bantamweight championship at UFC 196 to Miesha Tate, who is expected to face Rousey when she returns to the Octagon

Miesha Tate locks in a rear choke hold before Holly Holm falls unconscious (AP)

UFC president Dana White has blamed Holly Holm’s management for costing her a lucrative rematch with Ronda Rousey, and believes that the former women’s bantamweight champion was let down by her own team at UFC 196 where she dropped the belt to Miesha Tate.

Having become the first woman to beat Rousey in the UFC when she triumphed at UFC 193 last November, Holm went into the Las Vegas bout as the bookmakers’ favourite, only to be choked unconscious in the fifth and final round.

The loss means that Tate will go on and fight Rousey when she returns to the Octagon, leaving Holm out in the cold, and White feels that her manager, Lenny Fresquez, is to blame for costing Holm a chance of hitting the big time.

Speaking to ESPN’s Russillo & Kanell show, White said: “The sad part about that is, listen, he’s [Fresquez] an old boxing guy who thinks he’s smart, and he’s not.

“It’s one of those things. I feel bad about it. I feel bad for Holly. I don’t know if Holly really knows what she lost. I think she has so much faith in the people that surround her, she feels like, ‘Well, they got me this far.’

“We had this meeting, and Holly wasn’t even in it. Holly, that’s your life. You should be in that meeting. Don’t leave it to these people. Anyway, Holly made a lot of money. She accomplished great things, she beat Ronda Rousey. But it could have been so much bigger for her, and the sad part is, I don’t think she even knows it.”

Holm fought Tate on the same card as Conor McGregor faced Nate Diaz because she was unwilling to wait for Rousey to return from injury and Hollywood commitments, with the 29-year-old not expected to return to the UFC until after the summer and July’s UFC 200 show.

Fresquez dismissed White’s comments though, and said that his fighter was fully aware at what had slipped through her fingers at the MGM Grand Garden Arena last weekend.

“Of course, she knows,” Fresquez said. “It was a team decision, and Holly is the boss. She wanted to fight, and she got her wish. I think she’ll fight Miesha or Ronda next. That’s my personal feeling, but who knows what the UFC has cooking? Holly was dominant in that fight against Miesha except for the second and fifth round. She paid for it. Hat’s off to Miesha for capitalizing.

“What happens next is the UFC’s decision. All I can speak to are Holly’s wishes. Holly wants to fight Miesha right away. She wants to fight Ronda Rousey. Even with the title, a fight between Miesha and Rousey doesn’t have the glamour a fight with Holly and Ronda does. Yeah, Holly lost. She made a mistake, but she’ll learn from it. Everyone saw she’s a warrior.”

White also addressed concerns that the UFC had come out of UFC 196 badly given that the two biggest faces of the business, McGregor and Rousey, had both suffered defeat in their last two outings.

“There’s always somebody super talented coming down the pipeline, man,” White added. “It’s always been that way, and it will always be that way.”

Miesha Tate dominated Holly Holm during their UFC women's bantamweight title match (AP)

Meanwhile, Tate has already reignited her long-standing feud with Rousey by claiming she is a “broken woman” and questioned her ability to return to the UFC with the same threat and ambition as she posed before her defeat by Holm.

Rousey has beaten Tate twice in the past, both times via submission, but Tate told The Jay Mohr Show on Fox Sports Radio that she has already proven that she can battle back, but doubted Rousey’s ability to do so.

“She's obviously said that she's so emotional to the point where she's considering crazy things and it's like this is a broken woman,” said Tate.

“I don't know if she'll ever come back the same, but I have proven I can come back from adversity and I do come back and I will come back and there's no one in this sport that can break me. I have the strongest mindset of anybody in there and I don't know where Ronda's at with her mindset, but I have to wonder is she ever going to come back the same?”

Miesha Tate celebrates her victory over Holly Holm at UFC 196 (AP)

Tate was addressing comments from Rousey that she was so emotionally upset after the loss to Holm that she questioned the point of her life.

“I was down in the corner [of the medical room], and I was like, 'What am I anymore if I'm not this?'” she said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

“I was literally sitting there and thinking about killing myself.”

However, Rousey revealed that it was her boyfriend and fellow UFC competitor, Travis Browne, who helped her out of the troubled time.

“To be honest, I looked up and I saw my man Travis standing there and I looked up at him, and I was just like: 'I need to have his babies. I need to stay alive.’”

Tate wasted no time in jumping on Rousey’s comments, telling TMZ: “I don't even know what [Ronda] is thinking right now ... it seems like her motivation to stick around was to have Travis Browne's baby. So, I don't know.”

While Tate has cast doubt on a possible third bout with Rousey, White is in no doubt that the match will go ahead after confirming Rousey’s return will be against the winner at UFC 196, and hinted that he may even try to coax Rousey back to the Octagon earlier than expected to open the door to a possible UFC 200 showdown.