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Miesha Tate on Ronda Rousey: "She’s Biting off a Little More Than She Can Chew"

People out there feel there are no rivalries in women’s MMA.Well, we finally have one.It involves the current Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion, Miesha Tate, and newcomer Ronda Rousey. Rousey, who is a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in judo, has gotten o…

People out there feel there are no rivalries in women’s MMA.

Well, we finally have one.

It involves the current Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion, Miesha Tate, and newcomer Ronda Rousey.

Rousey, who is a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in judo, has gotten off to a 4-0 start, and all four wins have been by armbar. The feud with Tate started after Rousey defeated Julia Budd at the Strikeforce Challengers about 10 days back. Rousey appeared on MMAFighting.com saying that no one can compete with her on the ground and was ready to challenge Tate for the title.

Tate didn’t take too kindly to Rousey’s words, and the feud has been brewing ever since.

Tate was impressed with Rousey’s performance at the Challengers show.

“I thought she had a good performance,” Tate told me. “I thought she won impressively. It was nice to see that to see her go out there and put a good show for the women in the sport to prove we’re just as capable as the men. We put on exciting fights, and I was happy to see her do that.”

Rousey stated that no one woman can compete on the ground with her considering her background, and Tate had some very harsh words for the newcomer.

“I think it’s stupid. i think that either she’s not being herself and she’s completely trying to hype the fight or she’s an idiot. There are plenty of women who can give her a challenge on the ground, one of them being myself. I don’t appreciate her arrogance to be honest. If she wants to challenge me and she wants to make it a ground battle, I’ll be happy to give it to her and she’s not gonna like it.”

A lot of people are jumping on the Rousey train considering what she did in the Olympics and the start she’s gotten off to so far in MMA.

Tate, while impressed, feels Rousey is lacking in a lot of areas.

“She went to the Olympics for judo, so she’s a bronze medalist and obviously she’s very accomplished there. I can’t take anything away from what she’s done in the cage. She’s 4-0, all four wins by armbar in the first round. I have to say, I don’t think she’s really faced anyone with a strong ground game yet. Certainly not what I would consider on my level and also experience wise hasn’t faced anyone as experienced as me in the sport. She hasn’t been put in any positions where it would call to measure how big her heart is. How big is her determination? When is her threshold? When is her quitting point? I haven’t found mine either. I know its been tested. But I’ve never came to the point where I was ever consider quitting.

I know I’ve been through my trials and tribulations, I’ve fought some of the very best in the world and she hasn’t. She’s kinda stepping into deep water and I’m not sure she’s ready for that, honestly. I think she’s gonna get more than she can chew. She’s biting off a little more than she can chew.”

Rousey has won all four of her fights by armbar and hasn’t really been tested. Is she a one-trick pony? You be the judge.

“Well (chuckles), I’m sure she she has more in her toolbox than just an armbar. However I think that is her go to move obviously. Like I said, when someone gets put into a bad position or is being punched in the face or has to work out of a chokehold or an armbar of there own. I don’t know if Ronda Rousy has that in her and I’d like to be the one to find out.”

Rousey has been campaigning for the fight with Tate, as she feels it’s the matchup to make right now and the fight would draw. Tate doesn’t feel that is the case and feels there are two fighters who are more worthy of the opportunity.

“No, absolutely not. She’s 4-0 and no she has not earned her spot at all in the 135lb division much less as a contender. I think it would be really disheartening to see the women that have been working at this sport for years and have records like 14-1. Sarah Kaufman whose beating all the top ranked 135ers pretty much and she’s up for a title shot before Ronda, so is Alexis Davis. I think Ronda needs to ear her spot more. I think definitely she’s riding too much on her looks. She’s performing as well, but she needs to perform against girls. I would consider top contenders in the 135lb division before she starts spouting off that she wants a title fight. I think it’s pretty absurd and ridiculous to be honest.”

Out of Kaufman and Davis, Tate gives her take on who she feels should be the next title challenger.

“I would like to face Sarah Kaufman because I want a chance to avenge a loss. However fighting Alexis, is a great candidate as well. She’s been beating tough girls in Strikeforce. She’s 2-0 and I think she’s like 11-4 overall and she’s really tough. She’s been making a name for herself. If that’s who I fight next, I would be really honored to fight her as fight well. So either or are definitely head and feet above Ronda in my opinion as far as who deserves what.”

The sport of women’s MMA has been starting to make a little noise, and with the noise Rousey has been making, is she good for the women?

“Overall, I have to say she’s good for Women’s MMA because she’s been drawing attention. It’s always nice to have another pretty face in the mix. But I just think, she’s just coming into this sport. She’s really a baby and she’s got to be careful. She kinda thinks she knows it all. She talks about marketing this and marketing that, but I mean I’ve been doing this longer than her. I feel like I have more experience. She’s just gonna get chewed up and spit right out if she’s not careful because coming in at 4-0 and not having a lot of experience.. If I go out there and just smash her, then that’s nothing then.

What is MMA, if that’s the only fight that can be promoted and she goes out there and loses and loses a lot of hype with it. I just think that fight can be built up a lot more. I think she can be built up a lot more. She kinda compares herself to Brock Lesnar, he was 4-0 and got a title. But Brock Lesnar was a freak and had millions of fans and she doesn’t. All her fans are coming from MMA. I don’t even think Brock Lesnar should’ve earned that title shot. But he did. He had a huge following coming from the WWE. She’s still just building up.”

You can listen to the two-part interview with Miesha Tate here.

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 139’s Chris Weidman: Tom Lawlor Doesn’t Have the Experience Like I Do

For Chris Weidman, life is all about hard work and striving to be the best in the world. Weidman (6-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) gets another opportunity to achieve that goal this Saturday at UFC 139 at the HP Pavilion, as he will be facing Tom Lawlor (7-3 MMA, 3-2 UFC). This fight was supposed to be aired on Spike TV, but was recently put onto the Facebook portion of the card. Weidman was pretty bummed about the change.

“It’s a bummer, but you know it doesn’t make the fight any different to me,” Weidman told me. “I gotta get in there and fight. But yea, it definitely sucks for people who want to watch me.”

More people watch the fights on Spike than on Facebook, and most people would feel like it’s a lost opportunity, but Weidman has a feeling this will somehow end up on pay-per-view.

“Yea, a little bit, but I have a good feeling it’s going to end up on pay-per-view somehow. So, I’m trying to keep my head surrounded with the positive and just thinking to put on a great fight and better than Spike, it’s pay-per-view.”

Weidman is a prospect that people are really high on ever since his debut in the UFC in March, when he took a fight on two weeks notice and defeated Alessio Sakara. He followed that win with a submission of the night victory over Jesse Bongfeldt in June. How has Weidman dealt with his new found popularity?

“I think just thinking about it right now, not like I dwell on it. I think one of the biggest things is that people don’t see I’m doing this for no reason anymore, family, friends, whoever. Because when you’re in smaller promotions and you’re not making any money, it’s kind of like an aspiring rapper or something. What are the chances of making it to the top? When you get the chance to prove yourself and you do it, now your not trying to justify why you’re actually doing this. Putting your family through some hardships and not having money. I have my masters degree (from Hofstra), I can go out and get a job. So, why would I do that? You know, my hard work is paying off. It’s a good feeling.”

Weidman has been training with Ray Longo and Matt Serra since he started in MMA in 2009. He is beyond grateful for everything they have taught him inside and outside of the cage.

“They help a lot. I’m with Ray Longo pretty much everyday. I’m at his gym, working with him on standup, on cardio, strength, everything. He pretty much is my go-to-guy for everything, all my questions. He not only helps me out with my fighting, which is usually more important than everything else, but he’s there, almost as a psychologist. We’re always talking, we’re close and for like mental confidence and stuff like that, he’s huge. He’s really good with that. So, he’s a big help and Matt is awesome. A bolt of energy, he’s confident, he’s been to the top, he’s been to where I want to head. He helps me a lot by putting me in the right direction and getting me to where he was already once at.”

Lawlor has been saying to various media outlets that he will use experience to beat Weidman this Saturday. Weidman says that Lawlor doesn’t have his experience.

“They can say whatever they want. It doesn’t really bother me. As far as experience goes, look at Alessio Sakara. He had plenty more experience than me. He was in the UFC forever. I didn’t let that get to me. Tom Lawlor, he hasn’t been there as close to as long. I won’t let that get to me. The way I look at it is, I ‘ve been wrestling my entire life. I’ve faced top notch competition for a very, very long time. Tom Lawlor doesn’t have that experience. So, I’ll use the mental side of being in those wars with wrestling, just as effective as I would have MMA.”

You can listen to the entire interview with Chris Weidman here.

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 139’s Brian Bowles: The Average Joe Thinks Urijah Faber Will Beat Me

When fighting Urijah Faber, there’s a pretty good chance the opponent is an afterthought, since Faber is one of the most popular fighters in the sport, and the fans assume he will roll to victory.
Brian Bowles (10-1, 2-0 UFC) is under that assumption a…

When fighting Urijah Faber, there’s a pretty good chance the opponent is an afterthought, since Faber is one of the most popular fighters in the sport, and the fans assume he will roll to victory.

Brian Bowles (10-1, 2-0 UFC) is under that assumption as well, as the former WEC Bantamweight Champion will square off with Faber (25-5 MMA, 1-1 UFC), the former WEC Featherweight Champion, at UFC 139 this Saturday at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California on pay per view starting at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT.

Bowles and Faber each fought last at UFC 132, in which Bowles defeated Takeya Mizugaki via unanimous decision, and Faber lost via unanimous decision to bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

A lot of people thought a good performance by Bowles would have netted him the next shot against Cruz, but after a lackluster win against Mizugaki, Demetrious Johnson ended up getting the next shot.

Bowles understood why he didn’t get the shot after the Mizugaki fight.

“I wasn’t able to finish,” Bowles told me. “I wasn’t very aggressive; he’s a tough guy.

“I mean, he has that kind of style. He’s not easy to finish, and he’s a tough opponent. We both went in there, and if either one of us had been more aggressive, the fight would have been a lot more exciting,” he said.

“I think he was waiting for me to be a little more aggressive and I was kinda waiting for him to be more aggressive,” Bowles continued. “We ended up just standing there looking at each other a lot more than my fights usually are.”

The Bowles-Mizugaki fight was on the undercard of UFC 132, so Bowles was able to take in the Cruz-Faber main event that evening and wasn’t shocked by the champion’s performance against Faber.

“Typical Cruz, you know.” Bowles said. “He does what he does. Faber did a pretty good job getting his hands on him and not getting too frustrated at what he does. Every time you watch the champion fight, you learn a little bit from that. I took a little bit away from that.”

With the title loss, Faber is now 4-4 in his last eight fights, but Bowles thinks Faber still has that mystique about him.

“Once you built something like that, it takes a lot for it to go away. I don’t think he’s lost it yet,” Bowles said. “Just because you lose a fight or two here and there? He’s not out there getting knocked out. He’s not like at the end of his career, he needs to hang it up or he’s just hanging onto it because he can’t let it go.

“He’s still a No. 1-guy contender. He could be champ at any moment,” he said.

As soon as this fight was announced, a lot of people were under the assumption that it would determine the No. 1 contender for the bantamweight title, and Bowles is under that assumption as well.

“Yea, I think (UFC president) Dana (White) announced that the winner between me and him should be fighting Cruz,” Bowles said. “I know they never set anything in stone, but its been said. But that’s what I’m expecting from it.”

Since Faber-Cruz II took place and the fight with Bowles was announced, a lot of people think that Faber will roll past Bowles and secure the rubber match.

Bowles has other plans in mind and relishes the role of the underdog.

“You know, I’m kinda used to that. I’ve been a underdog in almost every fight,” Bowles said. “When I fought Miguel (Torres), underdog; ever since I’ve come into the sport, its been the underdog for me. I kind of feed off that.

“I think true hardcore fans, the other fighters know he’s not gonna walk through me. I’ve heard a lot of people say they think I’m going to beat him.

“It’s mainly the people, average Joes out there. He’s the more popular guy. That’s what they go on. They think it’s a popularity contest and not a fight. That’s what they’re going by. Not going by fighting skills,” Bowles said.

“I’m a quiet guy. He’s out there; his face is out there. He’s more popular, so they think he’s gonna win,” he said.

You can listen to the entire interview with Brian Bowles here.

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC on Fox 1’s Pablo Garza Is Glad He Stayed in MMA One More Year

Pablo Garza isn’t a household name among UFC fans, but if you bring up who was the guy who did the flying triangle at UFC 129 in Toronto, then the name rings a bell. That is nothing new for Garza (11-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) as he faces Dustin Poirier (10-1 MMA…

The card streams live on Facebook while a main event pitting heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez against challenger Junior Dos Santos airs live on FOX.

The flying triangle choke on Yves Jabouin at UFC 129 which netted Garza submission of the night, was something Garza said was never really practiced and likes to try new things.

I didn’t practice that at all. It’s a move that after jiu-jitsu classes, me and a couple friends will stick around and try these like crazy moves. It’s kind of like after basketball practice, you go to the halfway line and starting to launch balls to see if you can make it. That’s like the equivalent of what we do every once in a while. Hey let’s try this crazy move, or look at this crazy move I saw on YouTube and that’s the extent of practicing it. I’ve done it in jiu-jitsu tournaments. I’ve done flying triangles before, it’s a lot easier with a gi on.

For his submission of the night victory at UFC 129, Garza got received a $129,000 bonus which is the largest bonus ever given out at a UFC event. You would think Garza would have lived it up, but that wasn’t the case for the North Dakota native.

People think I went out and bought a Mercedes or some awesome car or something. That’s definitely not what I did. It took a lot a of sacrifice to get to the UFC. It took a lot of not paying bills and just getting really in major debt. So I ended up being smart about it and paid off my debt. I went off and used some of the money to buy a house now.

Garza struggled a lot to get this point mentally and financially and has advice for the guys who are trying to make to the UFC.

Just keep going, especially when can’t go anymore. When you absolutely think you have to quit, keep going. Sometimes you get that big break. There’s been two or three times when I told my coach, ‘you know, I’m done, I can’t do this anymore. I’m done trying to be a professional fighter.’ Then we made a deal, ‘you stick around for one more year and if nothing happens in that year, I’ll let you quit.’ That’s what my coach told me. Within that year, I got onto The Ultimate Fighter, got into the WEC, got into the UFC and have had two UFC fights since. Got real lucky.

Garza and Poirier are 2-0 this year and looking to cap their years undefeated. Garza has great respect and admiration for Poirier.

Very impressive, he’s a really tough guy. Really great striker, top contender, legitimate fighter. I have a lot of respect for him. I think it’s going to be a great fight for the fans to see, can’t wait.

The Garza-Poirier scrap was the first announced for the Fox show when the UFC and Fox agreed to a deal a few months back. Garza is really honored he was a part of the first fight announced and wants to put on a show on quite arguably the biggest day in the history of the sport.

I couldn’t believe I was chosen to be on that show. It’s the first time in history the UFC is going to be on Fox. I just felt really honored that the UFC thought I would be a good fight on there and could perform. I’m sure they are expecting they want people who are going to perform and have really good fights. So for them to have faith in me, to do that meant a lot. Gonna try and not disappoint.

To listen to the entire interview with Pablo Garza listen here.

You can follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Pro Elite 2’s Reagan Penn: With the Penn Last Name, Every Fight Is the Toughest

In all major sports you have people that transcend, and in the world of MMA, BJ Penn is one of those individuals. Penn is one of only two UFC fighters that have one world titles in two different weight classes, as he has won the lightweight and welterw…

When you’re the best at your chosen sport, you have family members that will try their hand at it as well. With the Penn family, it is brother Reagan.

Reagan Penn (1-0 MMA) will be facing Evan Cutts (2-0 MMA) tomorrow night at Pro Elite 2: Big Guns, which takes at the iWireless Center in Moline, Ill. with the main card starting at 9 p.m. ET/6 PT live on HDNet.

What made Penn decide that he wanted to get into the world of MMA after he has seen all the wars that his brother has been in?

“My whole family, we always work together whether we’re promoting shows, working on the website or just on the family business,” Penn told me. “We are always doing whatever needs to be done. I found myself not doing as much my normal work of computers and helping my family. I found myself training so much, I was like hey I’m getting older and there’s time and this is it.”

Penn made his debut this past August in Pro Elite’s return to the sport when he defeated Paul Gardiner via submission (RNC) at 1:10 of Round 1. Penn felt he did ok in his debut.

“I gave myself maybe a six. I know my father was yelling at me through the cage to keep my hands up because I dropped my hands again. It was so fast and once we clinched up, I kinda felt more comfortable. It wasn’t a perfect fight or anything, I don’t think. It was fast,” he said.

After his last fight, Penn watched the tape and found out what he needed to improve on for his fight with Cutts tomorrow night.

“Biggest thing I got to work on was my striking. I thought I kinda knew a little bit about striking. Of course when you get in there with better people, you realize you know nothing. That was when I focused on my striking and my wrestling to get the fight to the ground. That is where I always want it. I always feel most comfortable on the ground. I hope to display some of that,” said Penn.

Coming into the sport at a later age, Penn has short window to make his mark and knows each opponent will bring there best because of his last name.

“We’ll see how far I can get. Of course if my hype is gone, I don’t have it anymore and I’m not doing good. I’ll probably stay in it as long as I feel motivated. I’m in it and I like it. We’ll see how long I can go but I’m definitely not really trying to put too much pressure. I know with my last name, it’s every fight is going to be treated as the toughest fight. I’m just not putting too much pressure. I’m kind of having with it, but having the mindset I wanna see what I can do with it,” Penn said.

You can listen to the entire interview here.

You can also follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Pro Elite 2’s Reagan Penn: With the Penn Last Name, Every Fight Is the Toughest

When you’re the best at your chosen sport, you have family members that will try their hand at it as well. With the Penn family, it is brother Reagan.

What made Penn decide that he wanted to get into the world of MMA after he has seen all the wars that his brother has been in?

“My whole family, we always work together whether we’re promoting shows, working on the website or just on the family business,” Penn told me. “We are always doing whatever needs to be done. I found myself not doing as much my normal work of computers and helping my family. I found myself training so much, I was like hey I’m getting older and there’s time and this is it.”

Penn made his debut this past August in Pro Elite’s return to the sport when he defeated Paul Gardiner via submission (RNC) at 1:10 of Round 1. Penn felt he did ok in his debut.

“I gave myself maybe a six. I know my father was yelling at me through the cage to keep my hands up because I dropped my hands again. It was so fast and once we clinched up, I kinda felt more comfortable. It wasn’t a perfect fight or anything, I don’t think. It was fast,” he said.

After his last fight, Penn watched the tape and found out what he needed to improve on for his fight with Cutts tomorrow night.

“Biggest thing I got to work on was my striking. I thought I kinda knew a little bit about striking. Of course when you get in there with better people, you realize you know nothing. That was when I focused on my striking and my wrestling to get the fight to the ground. That is where I always want it. I always feel most comfortable on the ground. I hope to display some of that,” said Penn.

Coming into the sport at a later age, Penn has short window to make his mark and knows each opponent will bring there best because of his last name.

“We’ll see how far I can get. Of course if my hype is gone, I don’t have it anymore and I’m not doing good. I’ll probably stay in it as long as I feel motivated. I’m in it and I like it. We’ll see how long I can go but I’m definitely not really trying to put too much pressure. I know with my last name, it’s every fight is going to be treated as the toughest fight. I’m just not putting too much pressure. I’m kind of having with it, but having the mindset I wanna see what I can do with it,” Penn said.

You can listen to the entire interview here.

You can also follow me on Twitter @fightclubchi

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com