Search

Sports

Miesha Tate Not Concerned About Ronda Rousey, Ready To Fight More Challengers

By Colin Fredericson

From the archive: published Mar 11, 2016, 10 years ago. Details may have changed since.

Miesha Tate wants to do like Holly Holm and put her brand new championship belt on the line. Is Miesha Tate looking to throw it all away as quickly as she got it? In a certain sense, yes. Tate wants to relish her championship reign and take Ronda Rousey’s spotlight for good. She wants to prove her confidence is real. She wants to teach Holly Holm how to keep a title belt.

As The Guardian reports, potential rivals before a Tate-Rousey rematch include Cat Zingano, Amanda Nunes, and even an early rematch with the former champ, Holly Holm herself. Tate doesn’t care that she is putting the bantamweight title belt out there, basically up for grabs. Miesha feels the work she has been putting in has made her great, and she is ready to prove it to all challengers.

When interviewed about her recent victory, SB Nation reported Miesha Tate’s thoughts on how she matches up with Rousey now.

“What about Ronda’s mentality? I think Ronda is beating herself up over this. I mean, she obviously said that she’s so emotional to the point where she’s considering crazy things. It’s like, this is a broken woman. I don’t know if she’ll ever come back the same. But I have proven that I can come back from adversity and I do come back and I will come back. And there’s no one in this sport that can break me. I have the strongest mindset of anybody in there. I don’t know where Ronda is with her mindset, but I have to wonder. Is she ever going to come back the same?”

SB Nation also reported how Tate prides herself in her recent performance, and how she was able to stand up against Holly Holm’s championship boxing and kickboxing experience.

“I have improved so much and I showed that in this fight with Holly, being able to stand in there with not only a multiple world championship boxer but also a multiple time world championship kickboxer. She is phenomenal in that area. I really think I showed how much I improved. She edged me out in striking, but it wasn’t a landslide.”

Despite Miesha’s confidence, Holm wants another crack at the title. Holm thinks she has learned what she did wrong this time around, to tarnish her perfect MMA record with this loss. She wants a chance to get it back. And she won’t be waiting as long as Rousey to do it, if they do get a rematch.

Nothing has officially been confirmed about any matches before a Tate-Rousey match, but the UFC will likely consider bantamweight title fights before a Ronda Rousey return. Besides recovering from getting hit in the face during the loss to Holm, Rousey also has film projects to complete. Not being able to balance her acting career with her fighting career may be a reason she lost her title belt in the first place. The best thing for her may be to decide where she wants to put her focus. She has already proven she can fight, if she saves her talents and concentration for her movie roles, she could likely excel in that field too. But the impact from the title loss may color her future endeavors.

But things are looking up for Miesha Tate. She has proven she can come from behind and still get the win. An unpredictable fighter like Tate is exciting to watch, and is dangerous to any potential challengers. Miesha Tate has shown she is mentally tough, to come back later and claim the title after her favorite nemesis lost it. With more MMA experience than Holly Holm, Miesha Tate may prove to be the emergent victor of the bantamweight division.

Latest from Inquisitr

Front page