Nov 15, 2015; Melbourne, Australia; Ronda Rousey (red gloves) competes against Holly Holm (blue gloves) during UFC 193 at Etihad Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

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Dana White Blasts Former UFC Champion’s Team For Costing Them Millions

Nov 15, 2015; Melbourne, Australia; Ronda Rousey (red gloves) competes against Holly Holm (blue gloves) during UFC 193 at Etihad Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Roberts-USA TODAY Sports

Fighter managers and coaches wield enormous power behind the scenes in MMA. They whisper advice into their fighters’ ears about which fights to take and which ones to avoid. Sometimes this guidance leads to career defining victories and massive paydays. Other times, it leads to decisions that haunt fighters for the rest of their lives. Dana White has seen plenty of both scenarios play out over the years, with some teams making brilliant strategic moves while others completely blow golden opportunities.

The relationship between White and fighter management teams has always been complicated. White needs managers to handle negotiations and keep fighters happy, but he also gets frustrated when he thinks they’re making terrible decisions. The Holly Holm situation remains one of the most glaring examples of a team completely misreading the landscape and costing their fighter a fortune in the process.

The Ronda Rousey Rematch That Never Happened

Holly Holm shocked the entire world when she knocked out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in November 2015. That head kick heard around the world ended Rousey’s dominance and created one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. Suddenly, Holm went from being a relatively unknown former boxer to the most famous female fighter on the planet. The rematch with Rousey was the most obvious fight to make, and it would have been absolutely massive.

Dana White reveals that there was a lot of money on the table for an immediate rematch between Holm and Rousey. This wasn’t just good money; this was life changing, generational wealth kind of money. Rousey was still the biggest star in women’s MMA despite the loss, and the rematch would have broken pay-per-view records. Everyone knew it, the UFC knew it, and the fans desperately wanted to see it happen.

But Holm’s team had different ideas entirely. Instead of taking the massive payday against Rousey, they chose to have Holm defend her title against Miesha Tate for the same money she was already making. Talking to Jim Rome, White revealed he couldn’t believe what he was hearing during those negotiations. He literally asked them if they wanted to fight the second best woman in the world for the same money instead of the biggest star for life-changing cash.

“These are the same guys that had Holly Holm, and in my opinion, ruined her life…I told them in that meeting, you can ask my matchmakers, Lorenzo Fertitta, I said, ‘She’s going to lose by choke. She’s going to choke her out,’ and that’s exactly what happened. For the same money instead of fighting Ronda for life-changing money. That would have changed her life.”

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This story connects to a bigger pattern that Dana White noticed with the same management team that advised Jon Jones during the infamous UFC 151 cancellation. White called Jones’ coach Greg Jackson a “sport killer” after Jackson advised Jones not to take a replacement fight against Chael Sonnen. That decision forced the UFC to cancel an entire event for the first time in company history.

(Image Credit: Matt Roberts – Imagn Images)

Dana White

Holly Holm

Ronda Rousey

UFC 193

Zaid Quraishi

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I am a dedicated MMA and Boxing content writer at The Playoffs. I was instantly hooked on MMA after watching the fight between Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi back in 2014, and since then, i have been an avid writer with a deep love for the sport and its techniques, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the sport. My favorite aspect of working at The Playoffs is the creative freedom it provides. The diverse range of topics, from listicles and SEO to news articles, keeps me engaged and motivates me to continuously improve my skills! I aim to capture the excitement of the combat sports world in my writing, acting as the middleman between fighters and their die-hard fans. It is kind of like a referee, but with words!