Miesha Tate Would ‘Love’ To Score ‘Dream’ Trilogy Fight With Ronda Rousey
Ahead of this weekend’s UFC Vegas 43 event — the first which former undisputed bantamweight champion, Miesha Tate will headline since UFC 200, the Washington native has spoken in great length regarding her future plans in the sport — which includes a dream trilogy bout with arch-rival, inaugural division queen, Ronda Rousey.
Tate, a former undisputed Strikeforce and UFC bantamweight champion, made her stunning Octagon return in July as part of the UFC Vegas 31 card, snapping a retirement which dated back to UFC 205 back in November 2016.
The veteran submission expert handed the retiring Marion Reneau her first professional finish loss at the UFC Apex facility earlier this summer, courtesy of an eventual third round ground strikes stoppage victory.
Immediately, Tate began to campaign for a championship rematch against current two-weight champion, past-foe, Amanda Nunes. And this weekend at UFC Vegas 43 — has the opportunity to move closer to a rematch with the Bahia native as she tackles Nunes’ compatriot, Amazonas native, Ketlen Vieira who currently clutches the #7 rank in the bantamweight pile.
Miesha Tate would love to score a third bout with Ronda Rousey if she snapped her retirement
35-year-old Tacoma native, Tate spoke recently with ESPN MMA where she laid out an ideal 2022 timeline for her, which included an aforenoted rematch against Nunes — who makes her bantamweight return next month against Julianna Pena, as well as another rematch against fellow former champion, Holly Holm. And quite surprisingly, mentioned how she would love to score a trilogy pairing with the retired Rousey before she pulls the curtain on her career.
“Don’t get me twisted,” Tate insisted. “I’m not trying to call out a brand-new mama. This has to be something she [Ronda Rousey] wants, too. I wouldn’t want to just call her out. She’s doing her thing, she’s retired. I would want to fight her at her best. If she chose she wanted to come back and she was like, ‘I want to come back and fight Miesha Tate or whoever,’ I would love another shot at her. But only if she was taking it seriously and she was training at her best and that’s what she wants, too.“
Rousey, who called time on her professional mixed martial arts career following a stunning first round knockout loss to common-foe, Nunes at UFC 207 in 2017, holds a pair of armbar wins over Tate to clinch and defend the Strikeforce and UFC bantamweight titles, respectively.
“She knew part of the kryptonite for me was in my former relationship,” Tate said of Rousey. “[She] was causing the rift between him [Bryan Caraway] and I so that everything was unstable in the personal life. I think I went into those fights so congested in my mind. I really wasn’t able to be just fighting her. I was also fighting myself. I was also fighting my relationship. I was also fighting all these extenuating circumstances.“
While Tate still has yet to recapture gold, or even rematch Holm let alone Rousey — the Washington favorite has laid out a distinct trio of goals for the remainder of her career; “Title, Holly Holm, Ronda Rousey,” Tate said. “I would love it.“
