UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey hopes to finally end her rivalry with former Strikeforce titleholder Miesha Tate on Saturday, but that doesn’t mean she’s had any problem hyping the fight.
Speaking to Jim Rome on CBS Sports Radio on Thursday, “Rowdy” said outright that Tate’s physical attributes and their hatred for one another earned him another shot at championship gold, as opposed to her fight resume, per MMA Mania:
Miesha has a nice ass and she has an ongoing rivalry with me and that’s the only reason she was picked for this fight. The rivalry is why she is even around. It’s not because of her athletic merit. She really has to play that part of it up (rivalry) because that’s all she really has. She has to make it personal because you can’t make it an athletic rivalry because there really is no comparison. I’m an Olympic athlete and she’s a high school wrestler.
To the champ’s point, Tate is just 1-2 in her past three bouts and is actually coming off a loss to Cat Zingano at The Ultimate Fighter Season 17 Finale in April.
In fairness, though, Tate was a last-minute replacement to coach opposite of Rousey on Season 18 of TUF, the first season of the reality series to feature both male and female competitors.
The first time the two women met inside the cage for the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title in March 2012, Rousey secured her patented first-round armbar to capture her first major MMA title.
The 26-year-old enters the grudge rematch with her perfect record (7-0) intact, never seeing the second round thus far.
Will Rousey continue her reign of dominance at UFC 168, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Saturday, or will Tate pull off a stunning upset and extend their feud?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
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