Issue 085

February 2012

Awards glory means the world to Strikeforce bantamweight queen Miesha Tate after her breakthrough year.

This award means so much to me,” beams Miesha Tate after wrapping her hands around 2011’s ‘Female Fighter of the Year’ statuette at the World MMA Awards in Las Vegas. “In fact, it’s pretty hard to put into words exactly what this means.”

But it’s easy to understand why. It caps off a year in which Tate (12-2) returned from injury to cash in her number-one contender status against hardy Strikeforce bantamweight champ Marloes Coenen. Tate scored the upset and a perch atop the women’s 135lb tree, taking her shot at Dutch sensation and tapping the previously unsubmitted Golden Glory fighter with an arm triangle during the fourth round of their compelling July matchup. And thanks to the surging Ronda Rousey, Megumi Fujii-beating Zoila Frausto, former Strikeforce champ Marloes Coenen and the slam-happy Sarah Kaufman all owning a legitimate argument for the ‘Female Fighter of the Year’ title now owned by ‘Takedown,’ no wonder trophy glory tastes so sweet.

The Team Alpha Male starlet, 25, who dates TUF 14’s Bryan Caraway, says the development of her career as one of MMA’s most-recogized women has caused her to realise her role as an ambassador for the sport. “I don’t really think there is an example for me to follow as it is so different being a woman in mixed martial arts as opposed to being a man,” asserts Tate. “I don’t necessarily have anyone telling me how to do things right, but I am trying to do the best that I can and represent all the women in this sport. I feel like we all work really hard at what we do and we work hard to be in these positions and I am just hoping that I am doing a good job representing everyone.” A sense of responsibility and worth ethic no-doubt honed thanks to years on the boys wrestling team at high school.

Though Tate welcomes challengers to her World MMA Awards title in 2012, first she’ll have to concern herself with the fierce line of cage contenders wanting to disposses her of the Strikeforce gold. Olympic judoka and arm collector Ronda Rousey is already gunning for a matchup early in the year, while female pound-for-pound world number one Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos is talking of moving down from 145lb to get involved with the hottest weight class in women’s MMA. Perhaps now is the time for women’s mixed martial arts to break out and win the respect it deserves?

“I am excited about the future,” says Tate. “I would like to see more awards for the women here at the World MMA Awards too. Perhaps an ‘Up-and-comer…’ and a ‘Fight of the Year’ specifically for the women, but I do believe that the women’s side of the sport is gaining a lot more weight. We are gaining more and more fans, we are creating bigger viewership and in turn that is creating bigger business. We are a draw, we put on great performances too and it’s just so exciting to be a part of the continuing development of women’s MMA.”