With all the attention focused on Conor McGregor's UFC 196 welterweight clash with Nate Diaz, it's easy to forget gold is on the line just one fight earlier.
Women's bantamweight champion Holly Holm defends her title in the co-main event Saturday evening, seeking to notch her first title defense since defeating Ronda Rousey in November at UFC 193 with a shocking head-kick knockout that sent the MMA world into a frenzy. Taking on longtime 135-pound contender Miesha Tate, that may prove no easy task for Holm.
However, according to Holm's coach Mike Winkeljohn, who previewed Holm's title defense on Monday's edition of The MMA Hour, Holm's performance will be just as "dominant" as it was against Rousey.
"She's firing on all 12. She's a high-tech European racecar," Winkeljohn said. "Same going in for Ronda, I won't lie, we were confident for that one as well. I think Holly is going to dominate the fight and do real well. There are a lot of things you need to watch for and Miesha is very strong and very dangerous in many ways, but yeah she's [Holm] been looking good so far."
Although Winkeljohn is confident Holm will dominate at UFC 196, he believes Tate is the toughest competitor in the division available for ‘The Preacher's Daughter.'
"Oh yeah. You know, she's number one for a reason," Winkeljohn said. "She's been around for a long time and she's pretty darn good everywhere. She hits hard; she's tapping people out. Her wrestling is very good. You see that she's beaten jiu jitsu people, she's beaten wrestlers and she's beaten strikers so she's very good at what she does."
Apart from Tate's resume and experience, Winkeljohn is most concerned about Tate's persistence and ability to change the momentum of a fight.
"Just the no give up attitude. How many fights has she been losing and she comes back?" Winkeljohn explained. "She's as tough as they come. She's a competitor at the highest level with skills, so that's always scary."
Regardless of Winkeljohn's recognition of Tate's talents and fighting skills, he predicts a similar outcome to the one Holm dished out on Rousey at UFC 193 in Australia.
"Second round KO for Holly Holm," Winkeljohn said. "Yeah a lot like it; just as dominant."
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