Former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate may have an ace in the hole during the home stretch leading up to her rematch with UFC women’s champ Ronda Rousey at UFC 168 later this month.
Another ex-Strikeforce titleholder, current Invicta FC women’s featherweight top dog Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino reached out to Tate via Twitter to offer her services as a training partner before the Dec. 28 title bout.
Hey @mieshatate great job! Hope you kick @rondarousey ass! If you ever want to train together let me know! #ossss#heyyy
— Cris Cyborg (@criscyborg) December 1, 2013
The heavy-handed Brazilian fighter couldn’t resist ending the interaction without taking a shot at the “Rowdy” one.
@mieshatate she only has two moves. Her armbar and her middle finger. @rondarousey showing she’s trash #wmma #respect #not #trash
— Cris Cyborg (@criscyborg) December 1, 2013
Despite a failed drug test controversy swirling around her last fight with Strikeforce, she remained under contract with Zuffa LLC, the UFC’s parent company, and it didn’t take long for negotiations for a Rousey vs. Cyborg superfight to get underway.
However, after months of Rousey and Justino being unable to find a middle ground, Cyborg requested and was granted a release from her contract in February 2013.
Since then, the 28-year-old has scored back-to-back TKO’s under the Invicta banner, winning the 145-pound title with her stoppage over Marloes Coenen in July.
Meanwhile, Rousey and Tate’s rivalry has been going strong since early 2012, with Rousey‘s gruesome armbar finish over Tate in March of that year only intensifying the hatred.
Rousey is currently 7-0 as a professional mixed martial artist, finishing all of her fights with a first-round armbar.
On the other hand, Tate is 13-4 overall in her career, though she is just 1-2 in her past three matchups inside the cage.
Their bitter feud was recently exacerbated as they coached opposite one another on season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, with many pundits believing the reality series tarnished Rousey‘s reputation, casting Tate in a more favorable light at the same time.
Would “Cupcake” be wise in accepting Cyborg’s offer quickly ahead of her pivotal title rematch with Rousey later this month?
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com