Miesha Tate Is Not Afraid Of Sarah Kaufman

Miesha Tate is arguably the best women’s bantamweight competitor on the planet not named Ronda Rousey, and Sarah Kaufman is without a doubt one of the top 135 pounders as well. When Tate recently picked up her third-straight win over Sara McMann at January 31’s UFC 183, the No. 5-ranked Kaufman called out the former Strikeforce champ.

However, it has been confirmed that the two will not be fighting. Kaufman, not happy about this, went as far to call Tate a “coward” in an interview with Fox Sports.  She also bashed Tate on Instagram over the weekend, smashing a cupcake with her fist, “Cupcake” being Tate’s nickname.

“Cupcake” responded today (Wed., February 11, 2015) with an Instagram post of the broken orbital bone she suffered at UFC 183, saying she is medically suspended and in no way scared of Kaufman:

I wasn’t going to bother posting the CT Scan picture of the break in my orbital bone BUT since Kaufman referred to me as a coward and said I turned down the fight w her repeatedly, I figured I would post the proof. I have not been offered a fight at all because I am on injury suspension. I have always stepped up, never backed down from a fight. I don’t think anyone can argue that I am a coward. I am not cleared to fight (or train) yet but trying to heal as quickly as possible. I want to fight Bethe Correia (the undefeated, tough, relevent fighter) when Im healed up but that sure as HELL doesn’t make me scared of Kaufman

A photo posted by Miesha Tate (@mieshatate) on Feb 11, 2015 at 9:03am PST

Although she was dead set on a bout with Tate, the Canadian Kaufman already has another bout set up. It was recently announced that she would meet No. 3-ranked Alexis Davis for the third time at UFC 186 on April 25, 2015 in Montreal. Kaufman won both of their previous meetings.

According to Kaufman, Tate is undoubtedly avoiding her:

“As soon as I went online, she disappeared,” Kaufman told FOX Sports. “No response whatsoever. It’s insane, and the only thing it comes down to is if she’ll fight everyone in the division but me, that makes you a coward. It’s as simple as that. Why wouldn’t you want that fight back?”

The two fought back in 2009 at a Strikeforce event, and with both women still lingering atop the division, the rematch will likely go down. “Cupcake” also added that she never has and never will back down from a fight, and is trying to heal quickly:

“I have always stepped up, never backed down from a fight,” Tate wrote. “I don’t think anyone can argue that I am a coward. I am not cleared to fight (or train) yet but trying to heal as quickly as possible.”

It seems as if Tate isn’t ducking Kaufman, but would you like to see the two go for round two at some point?