UFC 196 results recap: Holly Holm vs Miesha Tate fight review and analysis

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight elites Holly Holm and Miesha Tate scrapped last night (March 5, 2016) at UFC 196 inside MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Holm's victory over Rousey was absolutely sensational, but her two performances prior were less than impressive. More than anything else, last night was Holm's opportunity to solidify her control of the division.

On the other hand, this was something of a last chance for Tate. It would be extraordinarily difficult for "Cupcake" to earn another shot at the 135 lbs. crown were she to lose here, so Tate had to lay everything on the line.

She did just that, and it all paid off.

Both women opened the bout with patience, finding their range on the outside. After that feeling out process, Tate was the first to score, as she caught a kick and landed a hard punch on the break of the clinch.

While Tate did land a couple more nice strikes, Holly definitely scored better in most exchanges. It was nothing devastating, but Holm threw a higher volume and landed more accurately with her long strikes.

It was a smart and measured approach to the fight from both women, but Holm took the first round.

After starting the round with some aggression and level change feints, Tate timed a shot brilliantly and scored top position. From within the half guard, Tate showed some very slick positional control and land decent ground strikes as well.

With about 90 seconds remaining, Tate used an attempted stand up from Holm to take the back. In an excellent series of attacks, Tate managed to get her arm under the chin a couple of times and nearly finished the bout, but Holm hung tough and survived until the bell.

There's no doubt that things were heating up.

Tate returned to her patient approach in the third round, looking to duck under another left hand. Holm was also hesitant, causing both women to come up short on most of their strikes for the first half of the third round.

For the rest of the round, however, Holm got back into her groove. She began connecting on more of her strikes and successfully defended a pair of takedown attempts, while Tate only landed clean a couple times.

Basically, Holm likely had a small edge in two rounds, but Tate did dominate the second.

The fourth championship round continued without many exchanges to start. The two simply exchanged at a slow pace from a touch too far away, which often resulted in neither woman landing anything too significant.

Once again, the fighters fought harder for the last two minutes. Tate landed nicely in a couple exchanges and set up one shot well, but Holm defended and landed the harder shots across the entire round.

It wasn't definite that Tate needed a finish in the last round, but she at least needed a strong round.

Holm started the round with some fire. "The Preacher's Daughter" committed fully to her strikes and began landing with some harder left hands. Additionally, she continued to find success with her side and push kicks, landing from a range that Tate could not match.

Just as things looked to be getting bad, Tate pulled off the impossible.

Getting a bit reckless in her forward movement, Tate somehow scrambled into the back clinch. Capitalizing on her moment, Tate pulled out all the tricks in jumping into back mount. During these attempts, she jumped onto Holm's neck and locked in the choke without any hooks.

Desperate to defend herself, Holm tried to flip Tate off her back. Miraculously, Tate held onto the neck and dragged her down to the floor, and from there it was over. Before long, Holm was unconscious, and Tate was the new champion.

Tate entered this bout and showed more intelligence then she's ever shown. Rather than run forward into counters, Tate picked her moments. Though at times she was too passive and it cost her rounds, it also extended the amount of time she had to make something happen and capitalize on her grappling.

She did just that.

Beyond the intelligence and insane display of heart -- which should be expected whenever Tate performs -- Tate's ability to overcome her opponent's strength advantage was most impressive. Holm was clearly the more physical grappler, but Tate managed to overcome that edge by sneaking in a trip and sliding around to back mount.

Next up for Tate is either Ronda Rousey or Amanda Nunes. And just for the record, as an analyst and a fighter I will say firmly that Miesha Tate is a threat to Rousey if she can fight with the composure she showed last night.

While this is a spectacular moment for Tate, it's pure disappointment for Holm. She fought very well and with great intelligence, denying her opponent's attempts at power punches and grappling a vast majority of the time. In fact, she was likely on her way to scoring the decision way.

Unfortunately, Holm needed to fight a perfect bout and make no mistakes. She fought masterfully, unfortunately her opponent managed to slip around her defenses a couple times and it cost her.

Holm's immediate future is unclear, as it's very much tied to Rousey's own fighting future. At this point, it's simply too early to see where Holm goes from here.

Last night, Miesha Tate pulled off an incredible rear naked choke victory. How long will Tate hold onto the belt?

For complete UFC 196 "McGregor vs Diaz" results and play-by-play, click HERE!