Miesha Tate defeats Holly Holm: Fifth-round submission stuns Holm at UFC 196

Miesha Tate upsets Holly Holm to with the UFC's women's bantamweight title

Miesha Tate (Getty)

In a night of incredible upsets, Miesha Tate defeated Holly Holm to win the UFC's women's bantamweight title in an exciting fight where the momentum shifted one way, and then back the other in a fight that saw a new champion crowned.

The fight began tentatively in the first round with Holm landing the better shots with some stinging right jabs and well-directed kicks to the midsection that won her the round on all the judge's scorecards10-9.

The tide turned in the second though as Tate managed to score a takedown on Holm and after landing some stiff elbows she managed to manoeuvre around to her back. From there, Tate locked in a rear naked choke that Holm only just managed to wriggle out of. In a very one-sided five minutes, Tate was awarded the round 10-8 by all three judges.

Round three saw the momentum shift once again back to Holm as she went back to using her jabs and side kicks to manage the distance and stuff Tate's takedowns. A similar pattern followed in the fourth as it seemed Holm was now moving towards victory with three rounds in the bank compared to Tate's one.

At the start of the fifth it was obvious to everyone that In order to take the title home, Tate needed to take a chance and she did exactly that when she gambled and ducked under a straight right. From there Tate took her back and with two minutes remaining she managed to once again sink in a rear naked choke. This time, Holm couldn't escape and to her great credit, she went down bravely as she refused to tap with the choke sunk in deep.

With Holm briefly rendered unconscious, the referee called the fight off and Tate shocked the world becoming the new UFC women's bantamweight champion.

Speaking afterwards, the new champion Tate said: “I’m so excited, I’m so emotional. I can’t describe it. I’m freaking out inside. I knew I had to play it cool with her because she’s so good. She’s so calculated with what she does. I definitely think she won the first few of those rounds. I knew once I got it to the ground I was going to find openings.”

Holm was devastated at her loss and blamed only herself for the defeat: “It wasn’t the right move to shake her off my back, it was stupid and I should have fought it off more. When you are up against a wrestler like that of course that threat is there for a takedown and you have to recognise it.