Miesha Tate still has a lingering desire to exorcise some demons, and the former UFC bantamweight champion is eyeing a potential matchup against Kayla Harrison to help her do just that.
Tate (20-9 MMA, 7-6 UFC) won the UFC 135-pound title by submitting Holly Holm at UFC 196 in 2016. Before that, “Cupcake” was best known to UFC fans for her intense rivalry with women’s MMA trailblazer Ronda Rousey (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC). The pair fought twice, with “Rowdy” submitting Tate both times.
Rousey, a former Olympic bronze medalist in judo, walked away from the sport nearly a decade ago. But Tate took notice when Kayla Harrison (18-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC) left the PFL and signed with the UFC last year.
Harrison is set to face UFC bantamweight champion Julianna Peña at UFC 316 on June 7, and Tate has her sights set on a future bout with the two-time Olympic judo gold medalist.
“I have desperately wanted to show how much better I can do now against a judoka than ever,” Tate said during an interview this week with MMA Fighting. “Because I did lose those first two matches to Ronda and I just didn’t understand it. I have an entirely different coaching staff now. I have people who really can mimic someone who has a judo background when at that time when I was facing Ronda, it was impossible to find women who were high level in judo but also OK with me punching them in the face as I’m trying to not get thrown. I couldn’t find it. I did train with some men but the men weren’t as slick as Ronda. There were a lot more about muscling things.
“So since that moment in time (I’ve been) trying to be much better at (judo). I feel like I finally have the tools. So at any point, even if it’s not for a title fight, I do think it would be great to fight Kayla Harrison.”
38-year-old Tate, who is set to take on Yana Santos (15-8 MMA, 5-5 UFC) at UFC Des Moines this Saturday, sees a win over Harrison as the next-best option for redeeming herself in the eyes of the UFC fanbase.
“Kayla is a very revered judoka,” Tate said. “She’s got similar credentials to Ronda. She’s her own fighter, she’s her own person. It wouldn’t be as sweet as vindicating those two losses to Ronda, however, it would be a great second and I would take that.
“I would take pride in people saying 'you know what, I think Miesha was right. She was able to back up what she said and she did learn a lot about judo and she was able to beat Kayla Harrison and likely if they ever had that third fight, she’d beat Ronda, too.”
