Maybe the rivalry between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate never left. But it sure is about to pick up some steam.
Tate will meet Jessica Eye in her next fight and the winner is likely to get a UFC women’s strawweight title against Rousey. First, Rousey will have to beat Bethe Correia in the main event of UFC 190 on Aug. 1 in Rio de Janeiro.
Tate does not like Correia’s chances in that fight. She said during a media scrum Friday in Rio that Correia is “in a little over her head right now.”
“I think everyone knows that if anyone is gonna beat Ronda, it’s going to be me,” Tate said.
Tate (16-5) has gone the longest with Rousey, taking the champ into the third round at UFC 168 in December 2013. That was Tate’s second loss to her bitter rival. The first came when Rousey took Tate’s Strikeforce title in March 2012. Both finishes came via armbar.
“We’ve been working a couple years just on beating Ronda,” Tate’s boyfriend and fellow UFC fighter Bryan Caraway said during the scrum. “So we have some really good game plan stuff in the future. You guys gotta wait for that fight to happen to see what tricks we have up our sleeves.”
That strategy will not include what Cat Zingano did against Rousey at UFC 184 last month. Zingano started the fight by running at Rousey and attempting a flying knee. Rousey caught her, the two flipped over and Rousey sunk in an armbar in slick fashion to win the fight in just 14 seconds.
“So stupid,” said Tate, who has won three in a row. “I wonder if they actually planned it or if she did it instinctually. I don’t know if that was what they thought was the best thing to start with, but I feel like a flying knee to the body is never a great way to start the fight, because you’re not gonna knock them out. The chance of you even hurting them with a flying knee is so inaccurate. You’re in the air.”
Tate, 28, believes she has the recipe for success against Rousey, even though she has not vanquished her yet. It involves dragging “Rowdy” into deep waters.
“Don’t do what Cat Zingano did,” Tate said. “Don’t rush forward. I think you have to force Ronda into a different pace. She’s used to being able to dictate whatever pace, whether it’s faster or slower. So I think you have to push Ronda out of whatever pace she wants to be in. Push her into the second round, push her into the third round.
“She uses so much energy in that first round. I think she really slows a lot as the time goes. She’s used to going out there and putting 110 percent to finish the fight. If she can’t do that, it seems like she starts to fade.”
Tate, who has won three straight since falling to Rousey, seems to get better as fights go on. She lost the first round to Liz Carmouche last April before coming back to win a decision. The same thing happened against Sara McMann at UFC 183 in January. McMann broke Tate’s orbital bone with a punch in the first round, but Tate persevered and pulled out the final two rounds.
There are some who wouldn’t be interested in seeing a third Rousey-Tate fight, since the first two were not necessarily close. But if history is any indication, both women will sell the hell out of it — because, frankly, they do not like each other and they are the most popular female fighters in the UFC.
Rousey already started the war of words again, saying during Friday’s press conference that Tate picked her head up from liking her own photos on social media when her name was mentioned. Tate was not surprised by the barb.
“We’ve talked about each other a lot,” Tate said. “It’s nothing new. She always has the verbal jabs or whatever, too. Most of the time I don’t really care what she has to say. That’s why I was on my phone the whole time. Then she said my name and I was like, ‘Oh this must be important.'”
Yep. A third fight could be right around the corner.