Tonight, Miesha Tate will be competing against Ketlen Vieira in the UFC Vegas 43 main event. However, it’s no secret who her biggest career rival has been. Here is a 2015 article of Tate taking exception to Sports Illustrated namin…
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Tonight, Miesha Tate will be competing against Ketlen Vieira in the UFC Vegas 43 main event. However, it’s no secret who her biggest career rival has been. Here is a 2015 article of Tate taking exception to Sports Illustrated naming Ronda Rousey the most dominant athlete in the world.The following article is presented to you in its original, unaltered form. And it is delivered to you straight from the MMA News Archives.
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MAY 15, 2015, 11:49 AM]
UFC Women’s Bantamweight contender and longtime Ronda Rousey rival Miesha Tate is taking exception to Sports Illustrated naming Rousey the “most dominant athlete in sports.”
“Cupcake” Tate was quick to point out the fact that Rousey only won a bronze medal in Judo in the 2008 Olympics, so in her mind, there’s at least two athletes that are more “dominant” than Rousey right there alone.
“I don’t know if that’s an accurate statement,” Tate said of Sports Illustrated calling Rousey the most dominant athlete in sports. “I think there are a lot of athletes in the world. Maybe someone who took a gold medal at the Olympics could be considered more ‘dominant’, you know?”
Tate continued, “In different sports it’s hard to compare because we have a fighting sport, versus someone who maybe does swimming or something,” said Tate. “An athlete is still an athlete so it’s hard to compare the apples and the oranges because they’re different things, so I don’t know if I agree entirely on that.”
Miesha Tate returns to the Octagon to face Jessica Eye in the co-main event of the UFC On FOX 16 event, which takes place on Saturday, July 25, 2015 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois.
All hail King TJ! This past weekend’s UFC on Fox show proved without a shadow of a doubt that TJ Dillashaw is the real deal. His obliteration of former pound-for-pound staple Renan Barão was masterful and effectively silenced all the ‘lucky punch’ rabble-rousers.
In addition to the main event, we got a Fight of the Year candidate, a new(old) women’s bantamweight challenger and an odd, yet refreshing display of MMA sportsmanship, on national TV no less.
So what’s next for our main card competitors? Let’s play ‘Being Joe Silva.’
All hail King TJ! This past weekend’s UFC on Fox show proved without a shadow of a doubt that TJ Dillashaw is the real deal. His obliteration of former pound-for-pound staple Renan Barão was masterful and effectively silenced all the ‘lucky punch’ rabble-rousers.
In addition to the main event, we got a Fight of the Year candidate, a new(old) women’s bantamweight challenger and an odd, yet refreshing display of MMA sportsmanship, on national TV no less.
So what’s next for our main card competitors? Let’s play ‘Being Joe Silva.’
It’s not just the fact that Dillashaw beat Barão again that is so impressive; it’s the way he did it. Oozing confidence, hands hanging by his ankles, he feinted, switch stances and uncorked beautiful combinations time and time again that made the once ‘unbeatable’ Barão look downright terrible. It was akin to the Silva-Franklin fights or even Jones-Rua, where a once great fighter is pummeled into a pile of goo by his more evolved opponent. Many fans are clamoring for a showdown of champions between Dillashaw and Dominick Cruz, but Cruz has said he doesn’t expect to be back until the end of 2015. Instead, a rematch with Raphael Assunção (provided his ankle has healed) would make sense for a fall matchup.
Everybody wants Barão to move up to featherweight. He has a tough time shedding the pounds to make 135 and he is unlikely to challenge for the title again. Makes sense, right? But when it comes to weight, how often do fighters take the path that makes sense? Barão will likely stay at bantamweight and if he does, a tune-up fight against the lower-ranked Mizugaki or Perez should allow Renan to regain his confidence or will prove his time at the top is over.
Yes, Dana White has stated that Tate locked herself into a third title fight against Ronda Rousey with her dominant win over Jessica Eye. Sure, Tate-Rousey III will sell well, but from a more sporting perspective a rematch between Cat Zingano and Tate is much more intriguing. Their first encounter ended with some controversy as Zingano pulled off a late stoppage after losing most of the fight. Then you have the fact that Zingano didn’t really get to fight Rousey in her title shot. That can be countered with the oft-recited point that Tate has provided the only real challenge to Rousey’s reign. Let these women duke it out to prove who truly deserves a rematch.
Aside from half of the first round, Jessica Eye did not look good in her bid for a title shot. Any hopes that she could supplant Rousey as the queen of women’s bantamweight dropped faster than she did from Meisha’s right hand. Eye is now 1-2-1 in her UFC tenure and barely holding onto her top 10 ranking. Sarah Kaufman is another fighter that the UFC doesn’t seem to know what to do with anymore. A rematch will negate the weed-related no contest from their first bout and keep them both busy.
That was Edson Barboza’s best performance in the Octagon and hopefully a turning point in his somewhat inconsistent UFC career. Barboza shines when allowed to engage in ‘a Muay Thai fight with 4 oz. gloves’ as Joe Rogan put it, and Joe Silva would be wise to keep booking him against strikers. Eddie Alvarez just won his first fight against a top 10 opponent and sits at #4 in the division. Barboza needs to prove he can break into the elite. Sounds like a perfect matchup.
This is the only non-action shot we’re going to use, because it is faaaaaaaabulous!!
Poor Paul Felder. ‘The Irish Dragon’ arguably won one of the most exciting and technically amazing striking battles in UFC history against the #7 ranked lightweight in the world, and he isn’t even rewarded with a place in the top 15 come Monday morning. After that star-making performance, Felder should get a chance against another top-shelf opponent. Josh Thomson, if he doesn’t retire, would test Felder’s grappling and would give both men a chance to right their ships. If Josh calls it quits, I hear Nate Diaz needs a fight.
It was only a couple years ago that pundits were wondering if Joe Lauzon might be done. Too many crimson masks and brutal beatings had taken their toll they said when he came out flat-flooted and slow against Michael Johnson in Boston, losing his second straight. Well here we are in 2015, he’s 3-1 since and he’s now calling his own stoppages. Joe’s probably not title shot-bound, but there are plenty of fun fights in the top 15-20 range for him. Dunham, who won last weekend, has a similar scrappy, grappling- based style and is also tough as hell. That’s a great main card opener for any PPV.
‘The Fireball Kid’ did not have a fun Saturday night in Chicago. He was blown out of the water in the first round for the second time in a row. At 36, retirement looms, but likely not without at least one more kick at the can. If the UFC wants to send him off in style, they should feed him Daron Cruickshank in Japan. That’s a winnable fight and a guaranteed stand-up battle. If they’d rather use his name to reinvigorate a former contender, Ross Pearson would likely make short work of the legend
It’s hard to a remember a more meteoric rise to absolute dominance than that of TJ Dillashaw, the TUF 14 runner up who will almost certainly find himself in those ever-coveted “pound-for-pound” talks following his brilliant performance against Renan Barao at UFC on FOX 16 last Saturday.
To think that, a little over a year ago, Dillashaw was being given no chance against the former “pound-for-pound” king when they first clashed in the cage is almost absurd given his pair of performances against Barao. And in the rematch, Dillashaw was arguably even more impressive, eating almost everything his Brazilian rival could throw at him while returning fire with a fury. Dillashaw’s footwork was incredible, his combinations video game-esque, and his accuracy reminiscent of early Anderson Silva. How Barao was able to withstand the final flurry that came in the 4th round was a credit to his chin, his heart, and the abnormally slow hand of Herb Dean.
Elsewhere on the FOX 16 card, Miesha Tate overcame an early onslaught, Edson Barboza and Paul Felder threw spinning sh*t, and Joe Lauzon auditioned for his post-fight career as a referee, so check out all the highlights after the jump.
It’s hard to a remember a more meteoric rise to absolute dominance than that of TJ Dillashaw, the TUF 14 runner up who will almost certainly find himself in those ever-coveted “pound-for-pound” talks following his brilliant performance against Renan Barao at UFC on FOX 16 last Saturday.
To think that, a little over a year ago, Dillashaw was being given no chance against the former “pound-for-pound” king when they first clashed in the cage is almost absurd given his pair of performances against Barao. And in the rematch, Dillashaw was arguably even more impressive, eating almost everything his Brazilian rival could throw at him while returning fire with a fury. Dillashaw’s footwork was incredible, his combinations video game-esque, and his accuracy reminiscent of early Anderson Silva. How Barao was able to withstand the final flurry that came in the 4th round was a credit to his chin, his heart, and the abnormally slow hand of Herb Dean.
Elsewhere on the FOX 16 card, Miesha Tate overcame an early onslaught, Edson Barboza and Paul Felder threw spinning sh*t, and Joe Lauzon auditioned for his post-fight career as a referee, so check out all the highlights after the jump.
Miesha Tate may be a notoriously slow starter, but God damn if she doesn’t have resilience in spades. Against Jessica Eye, “Cupcake” appeared to be fighting on a time delay early, eating a hellacious series of right hands and offering next to nothing in return. But then, late in the round, Miesha seemed to decide on a dime that she was capable of doing something other than taking her opponents down. Tate landed a MONSTER right hand that floored Eye and set the tone for the rest of the fight, which Tate dominated both in the standup and grappling departments.
With the victory, Tate has once again earned the opportunity to be thrashed by Ronda Rousey at some point in the future, so, uh, yeah for that.
In the co-co main event of the evening, Edson Barboza and Paul Felder engaged in one of the most technical displays of spinning sh*t ever documented. Though Barboza’s speed advantage and hellacious shot to Felder’s testicles in the first round would ultimately lead him to victory, the fight undoubtedly earned both guys a heap of new fans.
In one of the more interesting moments of UFC on FOX 16, Joe Lauzon kicked off the main card by taking Takanori Gomi down, pounding him out, then doing Herb Dean’s job for him and calling off the fight mid-ass kicking. The resulting memes have been kind to J-Lau.
Oh right, and in judging news, no one still knows what the f*ck they’re doing.
Main card
T.J. Dillashaw def. Renan Barao via fourth-round TKO
Miesha Tate def. Jessica Eye via unanimous decision
Edson Barboza def. Paul Felder via unanimous decision
Joe Lauzon def. Takanori Gomi via first-round TKO
Undercard
Tom Lawlor def. Gian Villante via second-round KO
Jim Miller def. Danny Castillo via split decision
Ben Saunders def. Kenny Robertson via split decision
Bryan Caraway def. Eddie Wineland via unanimous decision
James Krause def. Daron Cruickshank via submission (rear-naked choke)
Andrew Holbrook def. Ramsey Nijem via split decision
Elizabeth Phillips def. Jessamyn Duke via unanimous decision
Zak Cummings def. Dominique Steele via first-round TKO (0:43)
