Last Saturday night at UFC on Fox 16, Miesha Tate rallied from a tentative start to put a beating on Jessica Eye, defeating her 30-27 on the judges’ scorecards. That fight was a title shot eliminator, meaning Tate is once again next in line to face off with Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey. The two have fought twice before, with Rousey beating Tate in 2012 and 2013 with her signature armbar submission.
The first time, she dislocated Tate’s arm backwards with the maneuver in the first round. In 2013, Tate fared better, taking the fight into the third round and earning the distinction of being the only fighter to make it out of the first against Rousey. Will third time be the charm? Only if Ronda Rousey is interested in fighting her again. Fortunately for Miesha (and UFC), Ronda seems eager for another go with “Cupcake” Tate. From a UFC 190 media call via MMA Fighting:
“I need these other girls. It’s not like I can do this by myself. I need a dancing partner. The analogy that I use a lot is that these girls are like plants. Sometimes you can grow a crop and you can harvest it year after year like Miesha. Sometimes you harvest it once, it’ll never grow back.”
“There’s fan interest, so then there’s my interest. I’m interested in just defending my title as many times as I need to before I feel like I’m done. If she’s the best competitor and she’s who the fans want to see, then I’m extremely interested in doing it.”
“I’m an entertainer. I’m not just here for myself. If that’s what people want to see and she’s the No. 1 contender, then yeah. I’m totally down. She’s the one that has piqued my interest after I’m done beating Bethe. I don’t think Bethe will ever come back after this. But I think this might be the final season I can harvest the Tate crop.”
Don’t be surprised that Ronda refers to her opponents as crops that are to be harvested; this is the same woman who had no issues saying she could beat heavyweight Cain Velasquez on any given day. With that kind of confidence, it’s not shocking that she’s more interested in cash crops than unique fights. Tate has given her the biggest spotlight and arguably the biggest challenge (although Liz Carmouche did come closer to catching Rousey in a submission).
Will a third fight between Rousey and Tate generate similar buzz and excitement as the previous two? We’ll have to wait and see… but we may not have to wait too long. Rousey is talking like she wants a quick turnaround so she get the fight in before co-starring in Mile 22 with Mark Wahlberg. Transcript via MMA Mania:
“Here is pretty much the plan: I’m going to beat up Bethe, then I’m going to take a couple of weeks to rest. Then I’m going to go beat up Miesha. And then I’m going to go to, I don’t know, Thailand or wherever we decide to film, and prep for like a month and then start filming for like 8-10 weeks and then go beat up the next chick. That’s pretty much my plan.”
Ronda Rousey sounds like a busy lady. No time to rest so long as there are more crops to be harvested.
(via MMA Fighting)