March 09--UFC President Dana White says he thought all along that Holly Holm should have waited to fight again until Ronda Rousey was ready. Holm didn't want to wait most of 2016 while Rousey made movies, so she took a bout against Miesha Tate at UFC 196 on Saturday night.
Holm lost that fight as well the UFC bantamweight title she earned by upsetting Rousey in November.
White was in I-told-you-so mode during an appearance on ESPN's "Russillo Kanell," saying he feels sorry for Holm and blames her longtime manager, Lenny Fresquez, for what he thinks was a horrible decision.
"The sad part about that is, listen, he's an old boxing guy who thinks he's smart, and he's not," White said. "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."
Fresquez told ESPN that Holm calls the shots when it comes to deciding which fights to take.
"It was a team decision, and Holly is the boss," he said. "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. Hats 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."
Actually White has already said what's happening next -- and it's not going to be Rousey-Holm II.
"I think that Ronda now will fight Miesha Tate for the title," White said on ESPN's "SportsCenter" after Saturday's fight. "That's what's going to happen. That's what I said before this fight even happened."
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