Miesha Tate Aiming To Fight Bethe Correia Next

After a long-standing feud with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate finally picked up the first two wins of her UFC career in 2014 when she defeated Liz Carmouche at UFC on FOX 11 and Rin Nakai at UFC Fight Night 52.

The No. 2-ranked former Strikeforce champ is in an enviable position in the division, but it isn’t all that great. With two submission losses to Rousey, she’s essentially in Joseph Benavidez territory, making another title shot extremely unlikely.

Yet that’s still “Cupcake’s” goal, and the only chance she has to get back into contention is to keep winning. She’s debated bouts with Sara McMann and Gina Carano, but neither one came to fruition, leaving Tate without an opponent for the time being.

However, Tate has a new foe in mind, and it’s one that she believes will be willing to stand and trade. With her last two opponents more focused on grappling with her, Tate spoke up in a recent interview with AskMen.com to state that she has her sights set on surging Brazilian bantamweight Bethe Correia:

“I really want to fight Bethe Correia. She’s doing really well and she’s not afraid to engage in a fight. She’s undefeated and she has an exciting style of fighting. My last two opponents that I beat just wanted to grab a hold of me and take me to the ground. They did not want to throw punches with me at all. It’s not as fun for me. I like people that want to stand up and fight.

I feel like Correia is well rounded and we could win fight of the night. It’s hard to win fight of the night when one of the two people in the ring just want to hold on to you or lay on you. I want to fight someone that isn’t afraid to stand up with me. Let’s give the fans what they want to see and throw punches until someone goes down.”

The No. 8-ranked Correia has cut a path through the division in the last year, defeating Julie Kedzie, Jessamyn Duke, and Shayna Baszler since her octagon debut at UFC on FOX 9 in December 2013. Tate would be an excellent litmus test for her to gauge her title readiness, but Correia beat two of Rousey’s “Four Horsewomen” in her last two fights, creating a rivalry that has “Rowdy” clamoring to face her.

But with Cat Zingano waiting in the wings and allegedly headed for a title showdown with Rousey at UFC 182 next January, that bout will have to wait until Correia picks up a few more wins.

That’s why a match-up with Tate makes perfect sense for her. Tate is the only fighter to take Rousey into the third round, and her other UFC opponents have looked like little more than victims thrown to the wolves. Alexis Davis’ 16-second loss to Rousey at UFC 175 is the perfect example.

Correia isn’t on Rousey’s level at this point in time, but if she can get past Tate and Rousey wins her next fight (as most are obviously predicting her to do), then an upcoming showdown between the two would be a highly marketable fight that could potentially be a lot more competitive than Rouse’s recent wins.

It may be a huge step in competition for Correia, but it’s time for her to test her skills against a top name. Is Tate vs. Correia the fight to make?