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Tate Implies Ronda Rousey Wants Easy Fight Before Retirement

By Frank Yemi
Published on: 01:50 PST, Jun 15, 2016

UFC women’s Bantamweight champion Miesha Tate has had a long feud with Ronda Rousey. Rowdy has defeated Tate twice via the arm bar, both in Strikeforce and in the UFC.

Holly Holm’s undefeated streak was put to an end when Miesha Tate strangled her via rear-naked choke in a bloody five-round war.

The Bantamweight champion, who is on a five-fight winning streak, sat down with Megan Olivi on The Exchange for UFC Fight Pass to discuss UFC 200 and Ronda Rousey.

“Some people have been saying that she’s said, ‘I’ll come back for one fight against Miesha Tate because I know that I can beat her, and then I’m retiring. That she doesn’t want to fight Holly. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I have heard that. If it is true, I find it disrespectful. Do I think she’ll come back the same? Something tells me no. I think that’s just my take on the interviews I’ve seen her do. I feel like she’s somewhere else other than fighting. I don’t feel like this is her number 1 drive anymore.”

“Cupcake” Tate is insinuating that Ronda Rousey is looking for an easy next fight, which she finds disrespectful. This is not the first time there has been speculation that Ronda Rousey is avoiding a rematch with Holly Holm.

It was reported that Ronda Rousey responded to Miesha Tate’s victory over Holm with a text to President Dana White.

“Ronda wasn’t watching the fight. I text Ronda and she said ‘What happened?'” Mr. White said. “I said ‘Miesha just choked her unconscious’ and she said ‘Looks like I’ve got to get back to work.'”

This drew a lot of criticism, with many viewing this as disrespectful to Tate and confirmation that she doesn’t want to fight Holly Holm after the vicious knockout.

Some fans feel that Ronda Rousey’s next fight should be against Holly Holm. However, Dana White has confirmed that Rousey will fight whoever has the title when she returns. This also gives the former champion the opportunity to strategically time her return based on who has the belt.

Ronda Rousey’s movie deals and WWE interest have helped fueled rumors that she intends on retiring after returning for one more fight.

Since her emotional interview on Ellen, many feel Rowdy may not come back the same, including current champion Miesha Tate.

“Do I think she’ll come back the same? Something tells me no,” said Tate during the interview.

Tate subliminally references the Ellen interview when describing Ronda’s mental state.

“I think that’s just my take on the interviews I’ve seen her do. I feel like she’s somewhere else other than fighting. I don’t feel like this is her number one drive anymore.”

UFC commentator Joe Rogan has also spoken about Ronda Rousey’s loss. Rogan believes that Hollywood deals, endorsements, and other trappings of success distracted Ronda from focusing on fighting. He also suggests that Ronda’s arrogance allowed her to believe she could out strike Holly Holm, who is an 18-time world boxing champion and kickboxing knockout artist. She was also undefeated leading up to their fight.

Ronda Rousey’s claim that she would beat up undefeated Floyd Mayweather was considered by many a sign of her hubris. Also, defeating Bethe Correia in a first round finish was also a confidence booster. Correia does not have the fighting credentials of Holm and was not a high-ranked opponent.

Ronda Rousey’s next fight is expected to be a big PPV draw as millions of fans are anticipating her return. Whether she has taken the time to improve her fighting skills is yet to be determined. However, one loss shouldn’t take away from the fact that she was the most dominant champion the Bantamweight division has ever seen.

[Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images]

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