“That would really make my heart sing if she could get another crack at that and I think she’s earned it.”
Miesha Tate isn’t done just yet.
UFC Austin was an eventful fight night and the conclusion of the promotion’s run on the road outside of Las Vegas. Amongst the big winners was the returning former women’s Bantamweight champion, Tate (20-9), who dominated her way to a third round rear-naked choke against Julia Avila (watch highlights).
With the division currently wide open after the retirement of longtime champion, Amanda Nunes, the vacant title will be on the line between top contenders, Raquel Pennington and Mayra Bueno Silva, at UFC 297 next month (Sat., Jan. 20, 2024). Tate’s appearance before Avila saw her try her hand at Flyweight in July 2022, which resulted in a tough unanimous decision loss to one-time title challenger, Lauren Murphy. In 2024, rising UFC commentator and analyst, Laura Sanko, hopes the 37-year-old “Cupcake” has one more run in her.
“I would love to see Miesha get a chance at the title again,” Sanko told MMA Mania at the 2023 World MMA Awards in Las Vegas. “I thought she looked tremendous in her last fight and that would just feel so full circle for the people of my generation. The female fighters of my generation. That would really make my heart sing if she could get another crack at that and I think she’s earned it.”
Sanko, 41, is a former fighter herself and continues to train regularly. She went 1-0 as a professional fighter when she defeated Cassie Robb by second round rear-naked choke at Invicta FC 4 in January 2013. She became pregnant shortly after and hung up the gloves to turn to the broadcasting side of the business.
Commentary work hasn’t been anything new for Sanko as she honed her craft with Invicta before joining Dana White’s Contender Series. In 2023, she made her debut as a commentator for UFC with some fight night work and it all culminated at the UFC 293 pay-per-view in Sydney, Australia this past September.
“The reaction was probably the thing I was most nervous about when I did the pay-per-view because you know, I’ve sort of grown with the audience,” Sanko said. “From the diehard audience watching Invicta, to the slightly less diehard audience watching Contender Series the fight nights. But that’s a big leap to go from the fight night audience to the pay-per-view audience and when they don’t know you and haven’t sort of grown with you, there’s the tendency to be like, ‘Who is this chick? Where did this chick come from?’ (laughs)
“I was definitely the most nervous about that, but I was blown away, honestly, by the reception,” she continued. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think Conor McGregor would tweet out praise of my work, and others as well. So, I was really happy with it. I can always do better and find ways to improve but I’m satisfied.”