Miesha Tate Wants To Compete Again, Eyes ‘Cyborg’ Grappling Match
Miesha Tate made a shocking retirement announcement almost five years ago in 2016. Tate cited a lack of competitive fire as one of the main reasons for walking away from the sport when she did, but now, five years later, it seems that fire is starting to be brought back in her.
Speaking with James Lynch, Tate discussed the real possibility of coming back to competition in the form of a grappling match against current Bellator featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg.
“I have six (fights left on my UFC contract),” Tate said. “So if I wanted to fight, which I’m not, I wouldn’t be able to fight anywhere else. So you wouldn’t see me pop up and fight for ONE Championship or anybody else because obviously, I can’t legally do that. I would like to grapple, and you know, Cyborg did call me out to a grappling match. That piques my interest.”
While a massive fight between Tate and Cyborg never came to fruition, mainly due to Tate’s retirement, she is certainly intrigued by a potential grappling match with Cyborg,
“It would be amazing,” Tate said. “I think if we want to make it happen we definitely have to figure out the legalities of it, because my fight contract is owned by the UFC, right? She fights for Bellator, and I work (for) and represent ONE Championship.”
Since retiring, Tate had plenty to do, including being a major part of ONE Championship over in China. However, Tate admits that she’s definitely feeling the urge to get back in the swing of things, having fun and making some noise in the fight world.
“Right now I’m just focused on having fun,” Tate said. “This is something I wasn’t able to do in the latter part of my career. The last couple years of my career were really strenuous and a lot of that had to do with my personal life. I wasn’t having fun, I was exhausted, to be honest. Mentally exhausted before I even got to the fights. Some I was able to really bring it, and other ones I wasn’t. But I want to compete again, I want to grapple, and I want to get in great shape and I want to have fun and that’s what I’m doing.”
If she wanted to make a return to an MMA promotion as a fighter, there would certainly be plenty of opportunity for her to to do so. However, Tate doesn’t seem interested in that, but she also insists never say never when it comes to her MMA return.
“Nothing is ever completely closed in my book,” Tate said. “I am somebody who follows my heart and I follow my passion, and that could change at a moment’s notice. I am the kind of person who – I’m kind of all over the place, to be honest. Not kind of, I am. I am all over the place. I picked up in less than six months and moved my whole family to Singapore at the drop of a hat. That’s who I am. If something speaks to me, speaks to my heart, then I’m all in.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
This is certainly some intriguing developments in the life of Miesha Tate, where a return to fighting seems like a legitimate possibility down the line.
Would you want to see Miesha Tate grapple with Cyborg? How about a return to MMA? Who would be her first opponent?
