Tag: miesha tate

Miesha Tate on Ronda Rousey: ‘I’d Fight Her 100 Times’

No one would really be surprised if you told them Miesha Tate did not like losing to Ronda Rousey for the second time at UFC 168.
Tate is a former champion herself. Anyone who can rise to that level in a sport with so many ways to lose is not comfortab…

No one would really be surprised if you told them Miesha Tate did not like losing to Ronda Rousey for the second time at UFC 168.

Tate is a former champion herself. Anyone who can rise to that level in a sport with so many ways to lose is not comfortable with defeat. When you add in the fact that she lost to a bitter rival Rousey, you have a fire that’s still burning.

As told to Fox Sports and reported by Mike Chiappetta, Tate has clearly not reconciled with the fact that she is 0-2 against the brash Olympian and UFC Champion.

I told Dana White that I’d fight her as many times as he’d let me. I don’t care if I fought her 100 times and I lost the first 99 of them. I would fight her 100 times, as many times as they let me. If she beats me nine times out of 10, that might be the reality of it, but I would be game to fight her any day at any time they let me.

While many fans may laugh at this, if we look at the history of combative sports, we find that Tate’s thinking isn’t an anomaly. Jake LaMotta fought Sugar Ray Robinson six times, winning only once. If LaMotta had gotten more chances to take on Robinson, he probably would have.

No one likes to lose against a person they dislike. It must have burned Ken Shamrock to lose three times to Tito Ortiz just as badly as it burns Tate to have lost to Rousey again.

While Tate told Chiappetta that she felt “like s–t” during the fight and couldn’t get out of first gear, she did admit that part of her problem that night came in the form of a seasoned opponent. Rousey is used to pressure-cooker situations—she competed on the Olympic stage and also has one UFC title defense under her belt.

Tate went on to praise Rousey, declaring her a “phenomenal” athlete whose judo is “amazing,” both of which she used expertly to retain her title.

Then, of course, there is the matter of the snubbed handshake.                                            

“At the moment I felt that was the right thing to do, to show that I respected her as an athlete. That’s what it was about. Now that it’s over, you won’t see me trying to shake her hand anytime soon.”

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Miesha Tate Agrees to Help Cris Cyborg Get Ready for Her Next Fight

While Miesha Tate remains ranked the No. 2 women’s bantamweight fighter in the world after her second loss to divisional champion Ronda Rousey last Saturday, many are wondering what’s next for the ex-Strikeforce titleholder. 
As “Cupcake” heads ba…

While Miesha Tate remains ranked the No. 2 women’s bantamweight fighter in the world after her second loss to divisional champion Ronda Rousey last Saturday, many are wondering what’s next for the ex-Strikeforce titleholder. 

As “Cupcake” heads back to the drawing board, it appears she won’t be doing it with only the help of Team Alpha Male. 

On Friday, former UFC light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz, who manages Invicta FC featherweight champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, asked Tate if she’d be interested in training with his star client. 

Tate responded succinctly, appearing content to take the self-proclaimed “People’s Champion” up on the offer. 

Just over a month ago, Cyborg herself reached out to Tate to train prior to her UFC 168 title tilt with Rousey. 

As far as the fight fans know, Tate never book Justino up on the offer then, but she is clearly singing a different tune after losing three of her past four bouts. 

Justino is 2-0 under the Invicta banner, winning the inaugural 145-pound title in dominant fashion, scoring her second career TKO over former Strikeforce champ Marloes Coenen. 

Cyborg has not competed in MMA since July, though has stayed busy by taking a Muay Thai fight in September. 

She defeated previously unbeaten Jennifer Colomb at Lion Fight 11, scoring a Round 2 TKO. She currently does not have her next Invicta title fight booked. 

Would it be in the best interests of two of Rousey‘s top rivals to put their heads together and spend a few weeks training together, or would the endeavor be a waste of time at the end of the day?

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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Should Rousey Regret Not at Least Giving Tate a Fist Bump After Fight?

As much as it pains many a sophisticate to admit, perhaps fighting does solve things after all.
As per Bryan Alvarez and David Meltzer (www.wrestlingobserver.com) via Wrestling Observer Radio, since Ronda Rousey defeated Miesha Tate in their rematch at…

As much as it pains many a sophisticate to admit, perhaps fighting does solve things after all.

As per Bryan Alvarez and David Meltzer (www.wrestlingobserver.com) via Wrestling Observer Radio, since Ronda Rousey defeated Miesha Tate in their rematch at UFC 168, it seems Rousey regrets not accepting the olive branch offered by Tate.

The bad blood between Rousey and Tate was brought to a boil thanks to their roles as opposing coaches on last season of The Ultimate Fighter. Both women were passionate in their roles as coaches, but their rivalry seemed to overshadow the show.

While Rousey was busy dealing with the fury that comes to losing to a rival as a coach, Tate basically got the role of white hat by default. Rousey was so brazen and transparent in her anger and competitive nature that Tate could not help by look good by comparison.

All she had to do is avoid cursing, keep on smiling and offer at least some kind of mature countenance, and Rousey did the rest for her. In truth, Rousey is the best PR agent Tate could have ever hoped for.

And the coup de grace, which Rousey administered to herself after defeating Tate, was refusing to shake Tate’s hand or bump fists or whatever Tate was offering as a reconciliatory measure.

But now that some days have passed, it is possible Rousey has cooled down just a little bit on the topic of Tate. According to the broadcast (near the 55th minute of the show), Rousey voiced regret for not at least giving Tate a fist bump after their fight. It was mentioned that Rousey felt this way because if she had been more cordial after the fight, perhaps she wouldn’t have been booed like she was.

It was also said that Rousey did actually want to congratulate Tate on a good fight. Of course, as we have not heard this directly from Rousey and given the secondhand nature of what was being said on the broadcast, this may be nothing more than hearsay.

But should she honestly regret her actions?

No one could doubt the friction between Rousey and Tate was genuine, and in truth, for a sport “as real as it gets,” unless there were honest feelings or respectful appreciation for Tate’s efforts, Rousey should not pretend. It would look as if Rousey was faking it in order to disarm a bomb that already went off, week after week, on The Ultimate Fighter.

Obviously, I am not saying that I don’t believe fighters should be respectful to each other after a bout, no matter how much bad blood was invested beforehand. But I do not think it’s something that can (or should) be faked; imagine how cheap and petty it would have looked had Don Frye and Ken Shamrock felt forced into some kind of cheap reconciliation after their brutal fight.

It almost seems ironic now when you consider that Rousey, while being surprised, was honestly cordial to Tate when she walked into the TUF gym as a replacement to Cat Zingano. She smiled and even offered her hand before she was aware that Tate was going to be on the show as the opposing coach.

Now, the show is over, the fight is in the books and Rousey has the satisfaction of defeating Tate twice. Perhaps she does have some regrets and perhaps not, but either way, at least her feelings come from a very real place.

And if their two fights have not given them some acceptance for their feelings, then the only thing left that can is time.

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Cat Zingano Offers to Fight Ronda Rousey ‘With a Blown ACL Right Now’

Following her third successful title defense—between Strikeforce and the UFC—at UFC 168 on Saturday, pundits assumed women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey would meet fellow undefeated fighter Cat Zingano next. 
The bout made sense…

Following her third successful title defense—between Strikeforce and the UFC—at UFC 168 on Saturday, pundits assumed women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey would meet fellow undefeated fighter Cat Zingano next. 

The bout made sense: “Alpha” earned her shot at the belt with a victory over Miesha Tate on the season 17 finale of The Ultimate Fighter in April. 

Unfortunately, a torn ACL sidelined Zingano from ever cashing in on a title bout, so Tate took her place coaching season 18 of TUF, as well as at UFC 168. 

However, even after Dana White declared Zingano still to be the division’s No. 1 contender, per Mookie Alexander of Bloody Elbow, he proceeded to announce Rousey vs. Sara McMann at UFC 170 on February 22.

Zingano, currently ranked the No. 1 contender in the UFC’s official women’s bantamweight rankings, took to twitter on Monday to announce her displeasure about the situation:

Also, at the post-fight press conference, White explained that Rousey wanted a quick turnaround—since she fought only twice in 2013—and that Zingano would not be healthy in time for the February pay-per-view. 

The UFC’s head honcho also made note that Zingano is already penciled in to get the winner of Rousey vs. McMann. 

McMann, an Olympic-level wrestler, has a 7-0 record as a professional mixed martial artist and most recently defeated Sheila Gaff at UFC 159 in April.

Zingano is also undefeated, boasting the same record as Rousey (8-0), with all but one of her pro bouts ending via knockout or submission.

Did Zingano catch the short end of the stick here, or did White simply do what was best for business?

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com. 

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2013 Women’s MMA Year-End Awards

2013 was a monumental time for women’s mixed martial arts. After years of being told that they “just weren’t good enough” and that there “wasn’t enough girls to form a legitimate division”, women finally graced…

2013 was a monumental time for women’s mixed martial arts. After years of being told that they “just weren’t good enough” and that there “wasn’t enough girls to form a legitimate division”, women finally graced the UFC’s famed Octagon and blew everyone away in the process.

At the forefront, we had women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey. Rousey’s dramatic blend of an Olympic level judo background, an “easy on the eyes” physique and an appetite for snapping arms enthralled UFC president Dana White.

But it didn’t stop with Rousey.

White witnessed a surge of elite female talent such as Cat Zingano, Alexis Davis and Liz Carmouche break the UFC’s walls down and captivate his audience in ways that completely exceeded his own expectations.

The UFC shouldn’t get all the praise, however, as the hard-hitting ladies of Shannon Knapp’s Invicta Fighting Championship once again proved in 2013 that women come to fight, sometimes more so than their male counterparts.

Knapp and co. opened the year in January crowning Carla Esparza as the inaugural strawweight champion and finished in December with an all-out war between Barb Honchak and Leslie Smith that had fans on the edge of their seats the entire time.

I’d like to recognize those who truly stood out and made this such a great year. Here are the 2013 Women’s MMA awards.

 

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UFC 168 Salaries: Silva, Weidman, Rousey Top $1.8 Million Payroll

Despite losing in a devastating, and unique, fashion at UFC 168 on Saturday, longtime middleweight champ Anderson Silva topped the payroll of the pay-per-view event.
According to the complete salary list from MMA Mania, “The Spider” earned a cool $600,…

Despite losing in a devastating, and unique, fashion at UFC 168 on Saturday, longtime middleweight champ Anderson Silva topped the payroll of the pay-per-view event.

According to the complete salary list from MMA Mania, “The Spider” earned a cool $600,000 to show against current titleholder Chris Weidman.

“The All-American” certainly did not go home with empty pockets for his successful title defense, netting $400,000 ($200,000 to show, with an additional $200,000 to win) against Silva.

Ronda Rousey, the UFC women’s bantamweight champ, notched her third successful title defense between Strikeforce and the UFC, going home with a solid $250,000.

“Rowdy” was given a $50,000 show purse and a $50,000 win bonus. She also netted “Submission of the Night” and “Fight of the Night” honors—good for $75,000 each.

At least a little surprisingly, the women’s title challenger, Miesha Tate, earned just $28,000 to show for the long-awaited rematch.

However, bear in mind Tate was also a recipient of a $75,000 “Fight of the Night” bonus. 

Here is MMA Mania’s full list of salaries from the event, but bear in mind sponsorship monies, “Fight Night” bonuses and the UFC’s infamous locker room bonuses are not accounted for in these figures. 

Chris Weidman: $400,000 ($200,000 to show, $200,000 to win)
Anderson Silva: $600,000
Weidman def. Silva via technical knockout (injury)

Ronda Rousey: $100,000 ($50,000 to show, $50,000 to win)
Miesha Tate: $28,000
Rousey def. Tate via submission (armbar)

Travis Browne: $56,000 ($28,000 to show, $28,000 to win)
Josh Barnett: $170,000
Browne def. Barnett via knockout (elbows)

Jim Miller: $92,000 ($46,000 to show, $46,000 to win)
Fabricio Camoes: $8,000
Miller def. Camoes via submission (armbar)

Dustin Poirier: $46,000 ($23,000 to show, $23,000 to win)
Diego Brandao: $20,000
Poirier def. Brandao via knockout (punches)

Uriah Hall: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Chris Leben: $51,000
Hall def. Leben via technical knockout (retirement)

Michael Johnson: $36,000 ($18,000 to show, $18,000 to win)
Gleison Tibau: $39,000
Johnson def. Tibau via knockout (punches)

Dennis Siver: $66,000 ($33,000 to show, $33,000 to win)
Manny Gamburyan: $25,000
Siver def. Gamburyan via unanimous deision

John Howard: $32,000 ($16,000 to show, $16,000 to win)
Siyar Bahadurzada: $17,000
Howard def. Bahadurzada via unanimous deision

William Macario Patolino: $20,000 ($10,000 to show, $10,000 to win)
Bobby Voelker: $12,000
Patolino def. Voelker via unanimous decision

Robbie Peralta: $24,000 ($12,000 to show, $12,000 to win)
Estevan Payan: $10,000
Peralta def. Payan via technical knockout (punches)

For the record, the total payroll for all 22 competitors at UFC 168, which took place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., is $1,872,000.

Did everyone get what they deserved for their efforts inside the Octagon this past weekend, or do some numbers jump out more than others? 

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com. 

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