Seven fights. Seven first-round armbars. Ten, if you include her amateur career.
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has an air of invicibility that hasn’t been seen in the UFC since Royce Gracie blitzed his way through the early UFC tournaments.
But Miesha Tate isn’t buying the hype. The former Strikeforce champion, who meets Rousey in in the co-main event of UFC 168 on Dec. 28, feels that Rousey is as beatable as anyone else who steps into the Octagon.
“There’s a lot of weaknesses in her game,” Tate said at Tuesday’s UFC 168 media teleconference. “I think a lot of people build Ronda up to be this invincible person and there’s no way she can be beaten, but I don’t see it that way at all. I see a lot of holes in her game, and I see a lot of ways that she can be exploited. Just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen. I’m going to do something different on the 28th than anyone else has done. There’s holes in there, you saw it, I saw it. I don’t think it needs any explanation, they’re there to be taken advantage of.”
Tate, of course, lost her Strikeforce title to Rousey in 2012, although she gave Rousey as strong as fight as the champion has gotten in her career before submitting to her armbar. Between that and several months of Ultimate Fighter buildup, Tate feels she’s as ready as she can be.
“I don’t want to just win this fight, I want to win this fight,” Tate said. “I want to finish this fight and I think that it’s one thing we can probably agree on. I’m sure she feels the same way. That’s how I know it’s going to be an amazing fight. Every day that I go into my training, I know that we’re both fighting for that same common interest. We want to beat the hell out of each other, we want to finish the fight, we don’t want a decision, I don’t want a decision. I’m motivated.”
Tate came out of her TUF experience with a surge of popularity. While she appreciates the support, she’s also seen herself go from hero to villain to hero again during her roller-coaster mixed martial arts career, so she’s not letting it get to her head.
“It’s nice to see so many people siding with me, but there are so many bandwagon jumpers, I don’t count on that,” she said. “I’ve been loved in this sport and I’ve been hated. It doesn’t make me or break me either way.”