Report: Holly Holm’s Camp Would Prefer to Make First Title Defense vs. Miesha Tate

Holly Holm already has a spot reserved at UFC 200, but in an ideal world, the newly-crowned bantamweight queen would like to fight again before July.

According to a report from the Albuquerque Journal, UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, UFC President Dana White and matchmaker Sean Shelby were in the Duke City to offer Holm a rematch against Ronda Rousey at the promotion’s bicentennial event, which is set for July 9 at the new Las Vegas arena.

“They want Holly to wait for Ronda,” Fresquez told the Journal. “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.”

However, Holm and her camp would rather return to the Octagon sooner than that, preferably in the first quarter of 2016 against former title challenger Miesha Tate.

“Holly’s used to staying active,” Fresquez told the Los Angeles Times. “We’re from the old school, and we believe the No. 1 contender is there for a reason. … [Tate] deserves a shot, but it’s not for me to decide.”

There is also the question of Rousey’s availability in the coming months. The devastating nature of her loss to Holm was recently revealed in an interview with ESPN, in which Rousey said, “It might be three to six months before I can eat an apple, let alone take an impact.”

“I’m not sure Ronda will be ready for a July fight,” Fresquez told the Times. “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 … ”

White has already said that Rousey will be given a rematch with Holm when she is ready to return. If that somehow does not come to fruition, Tate would be the next logical contender: “Cupcake” has won four straight fights since a loss to Rousey at UFC 168, including what was then supposed to be a title eliminator bout over Jessica Eye at UFC on Fox 16.