The Miesha Tate weigh-in deadline for her upcoming UFC 200 fight with Amanda Nunes was at 10 a.m. She came in just before that, almost leading to a cancellation of her participation by a few minutes. Fortunately, officials gave her some leeway, since she did make weight, and allowed her to pass. They recorded her weight at 134.5 pounds, which is good enough for the upcoming card-topping match. Tate and Nunes will now be the main focus at the constantly-changing, highly-anticipated UFC 200 event.
Tate weighed in late because she was having trouble getting below the 135-pound limit and needed every second in hopes she could keep the weight down by the time she stepped on the official scale. Her coach, Josh James, explained to MMA Fighting why Miesha nearly cost herself the match by almost coming in too late to weigh in .
“Miesha has always been a person that uses all the time given to her for preparation whether it’s a fight or weigh-ins.”
Miesha Tate’s coach says weight cut was ‘a little bit tougher’ than usual ( @marc_raimondi ) https://t.co/REThw4yZ7s pic.twitter.com/yYGlv24zR7
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) July 8, 2016
The new early-morning weigh-ins are considered better for the health of the fighters. It allows them to properly rehydrate before stepping in the octagon. Otherwise, athletes would tend to stay dehydrated too close to fight time while being nervous about making weight. The only problem is punctuality. The UFC will continue to test and adjust weigh-in procedures.
As Deadspin reports, the UFC 200 card has changed dramatically over the past few months. The Miesha Tate weigh-in drama almost saw it change again, as she would have been disqualified on lateness alone.
The first major change came with Conor McGregor being forced to sit out. His rematch with Nate Diaz would have overshadowed all else. Instead, because of some cheeky comments on Twitter and Facebook, the rematch was rescheduled to UFC 202 .
Then came Brock Lesnar’s sudden return to the UFC. The 38-year-old WWE star’s fight with Mark Hunt was shoved on the fight card at the last minute. The move was controversial because of Lesnar bypassing the full drug testing process, but it’s admirable when looking at Brock’s heart and the potential it opens for future WWE/UFC crossover fights.
The latest shock was Jon Jones having to drop out of his fight with Daniel Cormier. Jones previously served Cormier his first defeat before legal trouble and then an injury by Cormier kept their rematch on the sidelines. This was going to be the chance Jones had to clean up his life and cement his status as the best in the UFC once again. Cormier would also have a chance for his proper revenge. Instead, Anderson Silva will fight Cormier, stepping in at the last minute for a fight where the light heavyweight belt will not change hands.
Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes promoted to main event at #UFC200 https://t.co/oFRHpmqowF #UFC pic.twitter.com/IXAzKAkV9E
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) July 8, 2016
All of those changes pushed the Miesha Tate/Amanda Nunes fight to the top. Miesha Tate showed she has what it takes to be the top women’s champion. Ronda Rousey let the belt slip from her hands last November in Australia. The shocking loss to Holly Holm had the MMA world refocus its attention on the effectiveness of striking vs. grappling. But Holm quickly lost the belt when Miesha Tate faced her in March. Tate was never able to beat Rousey and claim the championship before. Rousey losing it to Holm allowed Tate the chance she needed. The true test will be when Tate faces Rousey. She isn’t likely to lose to Nunes.
Nunes is a top-five women’s bantamweight fighter. Before Tate beat Holm and became champion, this would have been considered somewhat a match of equals. But since winning her last fight, even though it wasn’t directly against Rousey, it gave fans the sense Tate could potentially finally beat Rousey — if Rousey ever agrees to fight again.
UFC 200 starts tomorrow night just outside Las Vegas at the T-Mobile Arena.
[Photo by Atsushi Tomura/Getty Images]
