“I would like to grapple, and you know, Cyborg did call me out to a grappling match. That piques my interest.”
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate is itching for a comeback, but not in MMA.
Speaking to James Lynch of Fanatics View in a recent interview Tate, who now serves as Vice President for ONE Championship, said she would love to take on Cris Cyborg in a grappling match.
“I have six (fights left on my UFC contract),” Tate said (h/t MMA Fighting). “So if I wanted to fight, which I’m not, I wouldn’t be able to fight anywhere else. So you wouldn’t see me pop up and fight for ONE Championship or anybody else because obviously, I can’t legally do that. I would like to grapple, and you know, Cyborg did call me out to a grappling match. That piques my interest.”
“It would be amazing,” Tate said. “I think if we want to make it happen we definitely have to figure out the legalities of it, because my fight contract is owned by the UFC, right? She fights for Bellator, and I work (for) and represent ONE Championship.”
Tate might still be under UFC contract but the MMA veteran hasn’t fought in over four years. ‘Cupcake’ retired in 2016 following her decision loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205.
Tate doesn’t currently have any plans to make a comeback but admitted her mind could change at a moment’s notice.
“Nothing is ever completely closed in my book,” she said. “I am somebody who follows my heart and I follow my passion, and that could change at a moment’s notice. I am the kind of person who – I’m kind of all over the place, to be honest. Not kind of, I am. I am all over the place. I picked up in less than six months and moved my whole family to Singapore at the drop of a hat. That’s who I am. If something speaks to me, speaks to my heart, then I’m all in.”
Tate is widely considered one of the best female fighters of all time, having won titles in Strikeforce and the UFC as well as beating the likes of Holly Holm and Marloes Coenen. Despite her championship accomplishments, however, Tate is perhaps most widely known for her bitter rivalry with Ronda Rousey. Tate went 0-2 against Rousey but is considered ‘Rowdy’s’ most fierce UFC rival to date. Perhaps, if the stars align, a trilogy bout could in order.