It’s like an episode of Mean Girls in the UFC women’s bantamweight division now that Cat Zingano and Ronda Rousey have officially teamed up against Miesha Tate.Recently, the two UFC stars had a little bit of fun at Tate’s expense in a brief Twitter exc…
It’s like an episode of Mean Girls in the UFC women’s bantamweight division now that Cat Zingano and Ronda Rousey have officially teamed up against Miesha Tate.
Recently, the two UFC stars had a little bit of fun at Tate’s expense in a brief Twitter exchange. Even Zingano‘s husband, Mauricio Zingano, joined in on the conversation.
There are certainly no surprises with any shared animosity between Rousey and Tate, who have been bitter rivals for years. In an interview with Yahoo! Sports, Rousey compared her rivalry with Tate to Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
Zingano, on the other hand, has generally stayed out of the spotlight when it comes to social media drama. There wasn’t much in the way of pre-fight trash talk leading up to her No. 1 contender’s bout with Tate back in April.
Why would she take verbal swipes at Tate now?
Perhaps Zingano harbors a bit of resentment towards Tate for taking her place as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter Season 18.
She defeated Tate in her UFC debut to earn the coveted coaching position and a shot at Rousey‘s UFC title, but she was forced to relinquish her coaching duties and title shot after tearing her ACL and meniscus during training.
With Zingano sidelined for six to nine months, Tate was offered an opportunity to step in as a late replacement as both a coach and No. 1 contender.
If not resentment, some will look back at the alleged elbow incident involving Zingano and Tate’s boyfriend, Bryan Caraway. According to Zingano, Caraway struck her in the back of the head with an elbow while walking past her backstage at the weigh-ins for The Ultimate Fighter 17 finale. She claimed that Caraway “smiled” after the alleged incident and that he and Miesha were “both in on it.”
Whatever the case may be, Tate is baffled by Zingano‘s remarks. Instead of pouring gasoline on the fire, she took the high road in wishing Zingano well in her recovery and encouraging the rest of Twitter to do the same.
Did Zingano and her husband cross the line with their comments, or is the situation being blown out of proportion?
Now that it’s been confirmed that Miesha Tate will be replacing the injured Cat Zingano on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC has hustled together a hype video with Tate and Ronda Rousey trading compliments, with just a dash of hostility. Some highlights…
Rousey: “I’ve always respected Miesha as a fighter, and I’ve always respected her as an athlete. How we feel personally has nothing really to do with that. In fact I’ve said it within the same sentence, that I think that she’s entirely legit, but I don’t really feel bad about hitting her.”
Tate: “Ronda, obviously, is a phenomenal fighter, she’s undefeated…as a person, I don’t think she’s quite as stellar.”
Rousey: “I’m actually honored to be coaching opposed her on this show, and I think that this is really what was fated to happen, and I’m really lucky to have a rival like her. If I didn’t have her around, I would suffer.”
Tate: “We have our definite disagreements, but I give her credit for what she’s done and where she’s got in the sport of women’s MMA. Without her, I don’t think we’d be as far so I do value that. But at the same time, I feel like I’m right on her heels, and I want what she has.”
Some of you may already be looking forward to the entertaining level of tension that the Ronda/Miesha pairing will create on the show, to which I’d reply — wasn’t Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen supposed to be WILD and CRAZY as well? And all I remember from that season was Chael delivering some speech about how a group of guys were asked to walk a plank on the ground, and they all did it with no problem, and then the plank was raised up in the air, and nobody would do it, but it was the same action, it’s just that the environment had changed, or something? Come on, somebody has to know what I’m talking about.
Bottom line: The only way to guarantee drama on TUF 18 is to cast this lady as an assistant coach.
Now that it’s been confirmed that Miesha Tate will be replacing the injured Cat Zingano on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, the UFC has hustled together a hype video with Tate and Ronda Rousey trading compliments, with just a dash of hostility. Some highlights…
Rousey: “I’ve always respected Miesha as a fighter, and I’ve always respected her as an athlete. How we feel personally has nothing really to do with that. In fact I’ve said it within the same sentence, that I think that she’s entirely legit, but I don’t really feel bad about hitting her.”
Tate: “Ronda, obviously, is a phenomenal fighter, she’s undefeated…as a person, I don’t think she’s quite as stellar.”
Rousey: “I’m actually honored to be coaching opposed her on this show, and I think that this is really what was fated to happen, and I’m really lucky to have a rival like her. If I didn’t have her around, I would suffer.”
Tate: “We have our definite disagreements, but I give her credit for what she’s done and where she’s got in the sport of women’s MMA. Without her, I don’t think we’d be as far so I do value that. But at the same time, I feel like I’m right on her heels, and I want what she has.”
Some of you may already be looking forward to the entertaining level of tension that the Ronda/Miesha pairing will create on the show, to which I’d reply — wasn’t Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen supposed to be WILD and CRAZY as well? And all I remember from that season was Chael delivering some speech about how a group of guys were asked to walk a plank on the ground, and they all did it with no problem, and then the plank was raised up in the air, and nobody would do it, but it was the same action, it’s just that the environment had changed, or something? Come on, somebody has to know what I’m talking about.
Bottom line: The only way to guarantee drama on TUF 18 is to cast this lady as an assistant coach.
(You really want to do this again, Miesha? Really?? / Photo via Getty Images)
Over the last three years, “TUF Coach” has become the most dangerous occupation on earth, with Tito Ortiz, Brock Lesnar, Dominick Cruz, Vitor Belfort, and Shane Carwin having to go home due to health reasons before they could face off against their reality TV rivals. But at least those guys were able to make it through a few episodes’ worth of shooting before bowing out. Because this right here? This is unprecedented.
Kevin Iole broke the news earlier this evening that UFC women’s bantamweight #1 contender and prospective TUF 18 coachCat Zingano suffered a knee injury in training earlier this month, and didn’t even make it to day one of shooting. The season’s other coach, Ronda Rousey, learned the bad news today when she walked on set…AND SAW MIESHA TATE JUST CHILLING, LEANING AGAINST A POST. (Ed. note:The detail about the post has been added by CP for dramatic affect.) Anyway, here’s the story, via Yahoo! Sports:
Filming began Tuesday for Season 18 of the UFC’s reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter,” with a gigantic and unexpected switch.
Unbeaten Cat Zingano, who was slated to coach opposite women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, injured a knee and was replaced as coach by long-time Rousey rival Miesha Tate.
Rousey did not know that Zingano was injured – UFC president Dana White said it had been a tightly kept company secret since Zingano injured her right knee during a May 16 workout – or that Tate had been brought in to replace her, until the opening scenes of the show were filmed on Tuesday.
When Tate came out, Rousey was clearly stunned and she stormed out of the UFC training center, searching for White. She later said she was angry because she thought Tate was replacing her.
Rousey, though, was pleased with the change.
(You really want to do this again, Miesha? Really?? / Photo via Getty Images)
Over the last three years, “TUF Coach” has become the most dangerous occupation on earth, with Tito Ortiz, Brock Lesnar, Dominick Cruz, Vitor Belfort, and Shane Carwin having to go home due to health reasons before they could face off against their reality TV rivals. But at least those guys were able to make it through a few episodes’ worth of shooting before bowing out. Because this right here? This is unprecedented.
Kevin Iole broke the news earlier this evening that UFC women’s bantamweight #1 contender and prospective TUF 18 coachCat Zingano suffered a knee injury in training earlier this month, and didn’t even make it to day one of shooting. The season’s other coach, Ronda Rousey, learned the bad news today when she walked on set…AND SAW MIESHA TATE JUST CHILLING, LEANING AGAINST A POST. (Ed. note:The detail about the post has been added by CP for dramatic affect.) Anyway, here’s the story, via Yahoo! Sports:
Filming began Tuesday for Season 18 of the UFC’s reality series, “The Ultimate Fighter,” with a gigantic and unexpected switch.
Unbeaten Cat Zingano, who was slated to coach opposite women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, injured a knee and was replaced as coach by long-time Rousey rival Miesha Tate.
Rousey did not know that Zingano was injured – UFC president Dana White said it had been a tightly kept company secret since Zingano injured her right knee during a May 16 workout – or that Tate had been brought in to replace her, until the opening scenes of the show were filmed on Tuesday.
When Tate came out, Rousey was clearly stunned and she stormed out of the UFC training center, searching for White. She later said she was angry because she thought Tate was replacing her.
Rousey, though, was pleased with the change.
“This is what we really wanted all along,” Rousey told Yahoo! Sports. “Everyone said an Ultimate Fighter between me and Miesha would be the best. We have a personal history with each other and this is a personal show. For some reason, me and Miesha are intertwined in fate like Ali and Frazier or something like that.
“I think people will look back at this as one of the monumental rivalries and look back at this as one of those things that really cemented women’s MMA.”
Tate was disappointed that it took an injury to Zingano for her to get the spot on the show, but she said she felt it was fate. She said she felt she was winning the fight with Zingano when referee Kim Winslow stopped it.
But Tate was thrilled to not only get the gig and the title shot, but to see Rousey get visibly angry when she appeared.
“It was rewarding to see that,” she said. “I was like, ‘Yay! This is getting good.’ I watched her go to her corner and her corner was up in arms. I was just sitting there in the doorway thinking, ‘This is awesome.’
“I felt I was cheated a little in that fight with Cat. I had two solid rounds and one not-so-good round. Either way, I felt I was meant to be here and it’s come full circle.”…
Zingano underwent surgery on her right knee on Tuesday to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus, as well as to clean up other damage. She said she injured the knee as she came down after clearing a short hurdle.
“I was doing my regular routine, my strength and conditioning,” Zingano told Yahoo! Sports by telephone shortly before she was wheeled into surgery. “I was jumping over tunnels that were about 12 inches high. I’d jumped over them like 10 times already. This one time, I jumped up and my left knee came down right on track and my right knee bent outward.
“Snap, crackle, pop, and I hit the floor. That was all she wrote. It was terrible. It hurt bad, but the thing that bothered me most was the sound. I never experienced anything like that.”
Yeesh. Luckily, Zingano will still be in line for a title shot after she recovers in six to nine months. As you could imagine, UFC president Dana White is doing his best to put a positive spin on this rotten turn of events:
White said it made the most sense to put Tate into the spot rather than one of the UFC’s other women fighters.
“Miesha has the most experience,” White said. “She’d probably won the first two rounds of that fight with Cat and if it had gone to the cards, she’d probably have won by decision. The nice thing having Cat in there coaching against Ronda is that Cat was undefeated, and so we had this whole thing of two undefeated fighters facing off.
“But with Miesha, she and Ronda already had a great fight and they have a history together. They don’t like each other. We’ll make it work. We always do. You know how I say every day when I wake up, I know some bad [expletive] is going to happen? Well, this was one of them, but we’re doing the best we can here.”
So what do you guys think? Will the switch to “Team Rousey vs. Team Tate” make for more compelling television — even if Miesha isn’t exactly deserving of the next title shot?
UFC on FOX 8 is already scheduled to feature the women’s bantamweight match between Julie Kedzie and Germaine de Randamie, so if Tate vs. Carmouche gets the green-light, the 7/27 UFC card will be the first to feature two women’s bouts on the same night. Any early predictions?
UFC on FOX 8 is already scheduled to feature the women’s bantamweight match between Julie Kedzie and Germaine de Randamie, so if Tate vs. Carmouche gets the green-light, the 7/27 UFC card will be the first to feature two women’s bouts on the same night. Any early predictions?
(If you’re short on time, this image sums everything up pretty well.)
To say that Miesha Tate has been unhappy with the outcome of her Fight of the Night earning scrap against Cat Zingano during the TUF 17 Finale is putting things mildly. Despite controlling the first two rounds of the fight, Tate was eventually knocked out in the third round by Zingano. Tate immediately expressed that she felt that referee Kim Winslow stopped the fight early, but with Cat Zingano being sort-of busy for the time being, an immediate rematch has pretty much been out of the question.
That hasn’t exactly stopped Tate from trying. Yesterday, Tate posted a picture of herself in order to further demonstrate why she felt that the fight was stopped early, claiming that she wants a rematch against Zingano with a different referee overseeing the bout. Via Facebook:
“Post fight pic taken Monday, you all are wondering about my nose, its fine still a little swollen but im going to get the suspension lifted ASAP, and I will be back! Cant help my nose bleeds a lot still frustrated at the stoppage, think the ref freaked because of blood when she should have been focusing on the fact that I was still perfectly coherent and shooting for a takedown after two solid knees landed I was still in the fight and up on the score cards. Can’t pay enogh respect to Cat she’s a warrior & I’d love the honor of fighting her in the future again but NOT with Kim Winslow as the ref”
(If you’re short on time, this image sums everything up pretty well.)
To say that Miesha Tate has been unhappy with the outcome of her Fight of the Night earning scrap against Cat Zingano during the TUF 17 Finale is putting things mildly. Despite controlling the first two rounds of the fight, Tate was eventually knocked out in the third round by Zingano. Tate immediately expressed that she felt that referee Kim Winslow stopped the fight early, but with Cat Zingano being sort-of busy for the time being, an immediate rematch has pretty much been out of the question.
That hasn’t exactly stopped Tate from trying. Yesterday, Tate posted a picture of herself in order to further demonstrate why she felt that the fight was stopped early, claiming that she wants a rematch against Zingano with a different referee overseeing the bout. Via Facebook:
“Post fight pic taken Monday, you all are wondering about my nose, its fine still a little swollen but im going to get the suspension lifted ASAP, and I will be back! Cant help my nose bleeds a lot still frustrated at the stoppage, think the ref freaked because of blood when she should have been focusing on the fact that I was still perfectly coherent and shooting for a takedown after two solid knees landed I was still in the fight and up on the score cards. Can’t pay enogh respect to Cat she’s a warrior & I’d love the honor of fighting her in the future again but NOT with Kim Winslow as the ref”
Believe it or not, Kim Winslow didn’t exactly take the implication that she sucks at her job lying down. Despite being unable to specifically comment on the fight, Winslow issued a statement to US Combat Sports explaining her rationale behind her decision to stop fights this week. Via USCS:
“I will tell you what I tell ALL my fighters in the prefight one on ones. If I say ‘fight back’ you are in imminent danger of me stopping your fight and you have to give me a reason not to. If you respond to the command and show that you can intelligently defend yourself I will let it continue whether or not your attempts are successful. It is on you to continue to try until you are out of danger or the round has ended. When you stop attempting to get out of the situation or just go back to what got you warned in the first place it’s your way of letting me know you have had enough and I am coming in to stop it. How much time I give you is always dependent on the amount of damage you are taking. Safety is the first priority and it’s my job to make sure you come back to fight another day if you choose to. ”
Whether or not Tate was “perfectly coherent” after eating those knees from Cat Zingano is debatable. Tate may claim she felt fine – and Kim Winslow certainly has a history of questionable stoppages – but it’s easy to see why this fight was stopped when it was. For what it’s worth, Dana White – who isn’t exactly shy about criticizing incompetent referees after questionable stoppages – thought that the stoppage was fair as well.
Was this fight yet another early stoppage on Kim Winslow’s resume, or did she make the right decision stopping the action when she did?
It’s like an episode of Mean Girls in the UFC women’s bantamweight division now that Cat 
