Miesha Tate Is Still Pissed At The UFC Over Ronda Rousey Snub

Ronda Rousey is set to fight Holly Holm on November 14 in Melbourne, Australia. But before that, the plan was Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate, Part III. Tate had to defeat a very game Jessica Eye in what was widely promoted as a No. 1 contender match, and when rumors swirled that a long-anticipated fight between Rousey and Cris Cyborg might happen, UFC president Dana White repeated that “Ronda is fighting Miesha Tate next.”

Then, Ronda Rousey went on Good Morning America and announced she’d be fighting No. 8-ranked Holm instead. Tate woke up a few hours later to several dozen messages on her phone from friends and managers, plus a text message from the UFC apologizing for the last-second switch. It doesn’t sound like she’s accepted that apology. The UFC had planned on having Tate fight Amanda Nunes, but Miesha turned the fight down. Here’s her reasoning, via Ground and Pound TV:

“More things are going to have to be contractually agreed upon, instead of verbally. That’s just what happens when you can’t come to a verbal trust point. I’m going to have to have things just written down from now on.”

“I’m very frustrated with the UFC. I’m not in a position where I feel like I need to be pushed around and, ‘Oh, you take this fight, take that fight.’ It makes no sense to me why I’m not the champion and yet I’m fighting all the No. 1 contenders. Amanda Nunes is ranked No. 4 and Holm is ranked No. 8. What is wrong with that picture? I’m not the champion and I’m fighting better girls than the champion is fighting, and I’m not getting paid what the champion is getting paid. That is the champion’s job, to fight the best girls in the world. When I’m the champion, we’ll talk.”

Tate also took offense to Dana White’s claim that a third loss to Ronda Rousey would leave her at a dead end in her career, saying she didn’t plan on losing to Rousey again. But let’s be honest here, no one plans to lose to Ronda Rousey… but 12 to 45 seconds into a fight, they usually do. And that would leave Tate as gatekeeper good enough to keep out all other challengers, but not good enough to ever take the belt — at least not so long as Ronda Rousey is in the UFC. That doesn’t help the UFC, it doesn’t help the division, and it doesn’t help Tate.

It’s a harsh reality, but there’s truth to what Dana White is saying. So long as a third fight with Ronda sits on the horizon, Tate has purpose in the UFC women’s bantamweight division. Does it suck that she has to continue to fight other top women until the time is right for that not-very-rubbery rematch? Sure. But the top guys in the UFC lightweight division have been killing themselves and each other while their belt has been defended three times in two years due to injury. They’re not throwing themselves a pity party about it.

In the end, this whole situation comes down to money. Miesha Tate feels disrespected, and she feels like she lost a whack of cash losing the Ronda Rousey fight. If the UFC wants to make it right, they should sit her down and add a zero to her fight paycheck. But the promotion has never been about giving someone a raise from the goodness of their hearts… those who play ball and say yes sometimes get taken care of. Those who don’t often find themselves on the bench until financial realities force them to take whatever they can get. Which in this case will probably still be Amanda Nunes, for the same amount Tate has on her contract right now.

(Via Ground and Pound TV)

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