Former women’s Strikeforce bantamweight champion Miesha Tate missed out on her opportunity to coach The Ultimate Fighter opposite nemesis Ronda Rousey, and needless to say, she isn’t happy about it.
Tate battled undefeated 135-pound contender Cat Zingano at The Ultimate Fighter 17 finale last night, winning the first two rounds before getting TKO’ed in the third round.
In a post-fight presser highlight released by the UFC, Tate voiced her displeasure about the controversial stoppage by referee Kim Winslow.
“I’m pissed to say the least,” Tate said. “I’m definitely not happy. I mean, f***, I still feel like I was in the fight. I don’t for one second feel like it should have been stopped. “I’m a fighter; I wanted to keep fighting. I came out really strong those first two rounds. I felt excellent. She’s petty heavy from top position, but she (Winslow) told me to ‘Show me something.’ I don’t know what you want. I sat up. I shot a double. I got to my feet. I took some damage because of that because I was trying to listen to the referee, and she f***ing stopped the fight. What do you want, you know?”
When questioned if she felt one of the knees that hurt Tate was an illegal knee to a downed opponent, Zingano indicated that she had not yet been able to review footage of the fight and therefore wasn’t sure of the exact sequence reporters were asking about.
Heading into the matchup, Tate had won seven of her past eight bouts, with the sole loss coming at the hands of Rousey, who took Tate’s Strikeforce title with a vicious armbar in March of last year.
Meanwhile, Zingano stays perfect, improving her record to 8-0, with only one of those fights making it to the judge’s scorecards.
Was Tate shafted by a bad referee stoppage or was Winslow completely justified in ending the the fight when she did?
Regardless of the answer, Zingano, not Tate, will coach the first co-ed season of TUF against Rousey before getting a title shot near the end of the year.
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