Who knew there was such hostility between Dana White and Holly Holm’s camp?
Hindsight is definitely 20/20 and Holm’s decision to take a fight with Miesha Tate before a Ronda Rousey rematch is now looking unwise after Holm was submitted by ‘Cupcake’ in the fifth round of Saturday night’s co-main event.
In the wake of the upset at UFC 196, UFC president Dana White slammed Holm’s manager Lenny Fresquez for not keeping his fighter in the loop when it came to negotiations.
“The sad part about that whole thing is, and listen, he [Fresquez] is an old boxing guy who thinks he’s smart and he isn’t,” White said on ESPN.
“The thing I feel bad about is I feel bad for Holly because I don’t know if Holly really knows what she lost.
“I think she has so much faith in the people that surround her and she feels like, ‘Well, they’ve got me here.’ 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, this guy. Oh my god.
“Listen, Holly made a lot of money, she accomplished great things, she beat Ronda Rousey, but it could have been so much bigger for her. The sad part is I don’t [think she knows].”
Fresquez has since hit back at the UFC president, claiming White’s comments arose from a personal issue between themselves.
“Dana hates my guts,” Fresquez told TMZ. “It’s personal. How could it be my fault? Holly is the boss.”
And Fresquez has also rubbished the notion that he came anywhere close to forcing Holm to accept a fight with Miesha Tate against her will.
“I didn’t make Holly fight Miesha,” Fresquez continued. “Holly is the boss. I work for her. We gave her the different options. Fight Miesha in March. Wait for Ronda in November or December. She said, ‘I don’t want to wait. I want to fight.'”
