Replacing Cat Zingano with Miesha Tate on the upcoming co-ed season of The Ultimate Fighter was a huge swerve that reportedly set Rousey into an angry fit.
Not just UFC champion Ronda Rousey but also her mother.
That would be none other than Dr. Ann Maria Rousey DeMars, the first American to win a world judo championship title and the master who taught “Rowdy” her dangerous grappling techniques.
In reaction to the coaching shift for TUF 18, Dr. DeMars wrote a scathing post on her official blog, slamming the UFC and Fox for keeping her daughter in the dark:
When I heard about the last-minute switch in coaches for the show Ronda is on, my first thought was,
“That’s a pretty dick move.”
Not so much replacing Cat, who was injured (ouch!) but keeping it from Ronda until the last minute. If you’re going to have an athletic competition, then it should be fair. Among other things, that means you don’t give one competitor information that the other doesn’t have. You don’t let one player know something weeks in advance of the other player.
So, it is pretty clear that whoever is making the decisions here has decided this is not an athletic competition, it’s a reality show. That’s what a lot of people have been saying all along, it’s just going to be a side show and not a serious athletic event.
Tate’s move into the title picture has caused a tremendous amount of controversy in the MMA community, especially since the former Strikeforce champion is coming off a loss to Zingano from their battle at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.
Although the bout was a competitive three-round “Fight of the Night” barnburner, Zingano finished Tate via TKO with knees to the face and punches which drove her into the Octagon fence.
Tate would later protest the stoppage by referee Kim Winslon, stating that the fight-ending strikes to her head were illegal due to her hand touching the canvas.
Later replays wouldn’t prove Tate’s claims, however, so the loss stuck to her record regardless, moving Tate towards a match against Liz Carmouche at UFC on Fox 8 (now facing newcomer Jessica Andrade from Brazil).
But as soon as Zingano turned up injured due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, as reported by Yahoo Sports, the UFC immediately covered up the news, surprising Rousey during the first day of filming for TUF 18 by bringing Tate to the TUF gym.
Despite all the outcry over “Cupcake” getting the title shot, Tate says that she is the rightful No. 1 contender to Rousey’s title, citing gross incompetence by referee Winslow and telling MMA Junkie that UFC fans can hate her as much as they want.
McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania and The L.A. Times.
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