After three years and two fights, the rivalry between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate has not died down.
Rousey, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion, had some more words for Tate in her appearance Wednesday on the Howard Stern show on Sirius/XM Radio. Rousey said that Tate has made her name off their famous feud.
“Me beating the crap out of her is the best thing that has ever happened to her,” Rousey said. “Why? Because she’s made a whole career and a living out of it.”
Rousey, 28, was on the show to promote her new book “My Fight/Your Fight,” which became available this week in bookstores and online. “Rowdy” said she didn’t spend much time going over her rivalry with Tate in print, because Tate doesn’t deserve it.
Rousey won the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title from Tate in 2012 via first-round armbar. That was the fight that made her a star. In December 2013, the two met again and Rousey finished Tate again with an armbar in the third round. Tate is the only opponent who has been out of the first round with Rousey.
“I didn’t even want to devote that much time to her in the book,” Rousey said. “I could just write a book about why Miesha Tate is a big ol’ bitch.”
Rousey also had another word she called Tate on Stern and it began with the letter “c.” But the champ said she doesn’t completely hate Tate. She thinks the biggest problem lies with Tate’s boyfriend Bryan Caraway, also a UFC fighter.
“I think deep down I don’t think she’s a terrible person,” Rousey said. “I think she’s just one of those malleable people that they are who they’re hanging with.
“I think she just has a martini personality, which is whoever you’re sitting down and having a drink with, that’s who you reflect and that’s exactly who you are. Her boyfriend is like the biggest douchebag ever and she’s around him every single second of the day.”
Caraway infamously tweeted that he would fight Rousey and knock her teeth down her throat before the first Rousey-Tate fight. Caraway has since apologized for that and calling Rousey an “unintelligent bimbo.” It’s obvious, though, that it is not just water under the bridge for Rousey, who accuses Caraway of doing things to damage Tate’s career.
“I’ve heard that when she’s not around him, then she’s very pleasant,” Rousey said. “But when she’s with him she’s fucking terrible.
“This guy is like just such a leech. It just drives me nuts. And I feel like she could have hope to be decent if she just got away from him.”
After their second fight, Tate extended her hand for Rousey to shake and Rousey turned away, blowing her off. The fans booed at that, but they have since come around. Rousey has become a massive crossover star — the biggest in MMA. Tate is also hugely popular and has won three in a row since falling to Rousey at UFC 168.
That’s why the two might meet for a third time. Tate, 28, faces Jessica Eye in the co-main event of UFC on FOX 16 on July 25 in Chicago. If she wins, she’ll likely earn a title shot. Rousey will defend her belt against Bethe Correia in the main event of UFC 190 on Aug. 1 in Rio de Janeiro.
“I think everyone knows that if anyone is gonna beat Ronda, it’s going to be me,” Tate said in a recent media scrum.
Rousey would probably disagree with that. “Rowdy” would also not be opposed to getting a piece of Caraway in the Octagon. She said she would absolutely kick his ass when asked by Stern.
“Hell yeah I could,” Rousey said. “Oh yeah, definitely.”