Miesha Tate
Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha ‘Takedown’ Tate (12-3) is hoping that she’ll get a chance to one day avenge her title loss to Ronda Rousey by handing the current champ her first loss.
Before that can happen, both fighters will have to defeat their respective opponents this weekend in San Diego, California as part of the Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman show.
Tate was a guest on “The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo” on Thursday to talk about her fight this Saturday.
“I think emotion had a huge part of (the first fight) and I didn’t realize it until after the fight. A fire came over me and I wanted to win that fight so badly and I became overzealous and I fought Ronda with too much emotion. I’m still a young fighter. It’s my 26th birthday on Saturday as well. I’m still learning a lot and that fight was a learning experience for me and it taught me a lot. I think next time when she doesn’t have that mental manipulation over me (the fight will be different). I’m not bothered by Ronda anymore.
“I have to admit I really want to be the first one to beat Ronda. For my own selfish reasons, I want Ronda to (beat Sarah Kaufman) to benefit myself. I want to be the first person to beat Ronda. Am I completely over the first fight? No, I don’t think I ever will be over it completely. It still bothers me a little bit, but I’ve learned to turn it from a negative energy into a positive energy.”
Tate is set to take on Julie Kedzie in the headliner of the preliminary card, while Rousey faces another former champ in Sarah Kaufman.
Also featured on the podcast was Strikeforce middleweight Derek Brunson.