Introducing Cupcake 2.0.
Miesha Tate showcased a brand new attribute Saturday night: significant punching power in her right hand. That recently developed skill contributed greatly to a unanimous decision win over Jessica Eye in the main event of UFC on FOX 16 in Chicago. Tate will now get another women’s bantamweight title shot, against the winner of the UFC 190 main event between champion Ronda Rousey and Bethe Correia.
“I felt so much stronger and more powerful,” Tate said at the post-fight press conference. “I felt like the power I was able to deliver is absolutely necessary, for not only Ronda but anyone I’m fighting — especially Ronda now that I’m looking forward to that. She doesn’t like to be hit and I need to be able to deliver that finishing power on the feet.”
Tate (17-5) is one of the most accomplished women’s fighters in the UFC and the former Strikeforce women’s 135-pound champion. But she got her victories mainly based on superior wrestling, grappling, guile and toughness. Tate showcased all those things against Eye — but also dropped Eye twice in the first round with a big overhand right. That stunned even the most ardent “Cupcake” fans.
Tate, 28, owes the improved punching power to better strength and conditioning. She just started training at Phase 1 Sports in Las Vegas and a top priority was becoming a better overall athlete. Tate feels like she accomplished just that and the proof was seen against Eye.
“Not only the punching power, but the conditioning to continue to throw the punching power all three rounds,” Tate said. “Sometimes you throw power and you’re not really conditioned for it and you gas out in the first round. Man, it takes a lot of energy and it takes a lot of strength to be able to do that, but with the new strength and conditioning program I felt like I was able to deliver the same power in the first round and the same power in the third round.”
Tate was getting boxed up in the first round. Eye was countering and hitting Tate with combination after combination. She clearly looked like the better striker. But then Tate adjusted. Instead of dictating the pace, she began to counter Eye and measured the distance for that big overhand right. It landed twice in that round, almost finishing things. And Tate also got the better of the fight standing in the second round. She won 30-27 on all the judges’ scorecards.
“[My boyfriend] Bryan [Caraway] was like, ‘Hey, put your head on her chest and just throw. You have a lot of power behind those hands,'” Tate said. “And I did that and I made the adjustments and I didn’t feel like the urgency to have to take her down. I was like, hey man I can put this girl away on her feet. Like, hey it would be nice to get a knockout. I knocked her down two times and it’s kind of addicting in a fight. You knock someone down two times in the first round and it’s like smelling blood.”
Tate didn’t get the finish, but it was a dominant performance after the first few minutes nonetheless.
“I still won, but I’m definitely disappointed that I didn’t get the finish,” Tate said. “But it’s definitely clear that Jessica didn’t want to participate on the ground at all.
“I didn’t get it and it’s frustrating. But she’s a really tough girl and she proved that tonight. She’s not an easy person to finish. That’s OK. I still feel like I showed a lot of improvements in my game and in the necessary areas of my game that I needed to improve.”
There’s no doubt about that.