The time just never seemed right for Miesha Tate; the fighter many thought was the second best in the world at her weight class. Tate had bested nearly everyone she faced with only a few notable exceptions, including one very dominant champion. Even after going on another dominant win streak and being publicly told she had the next title shot somehow she lost the opportunity. It seemed that Tate was destined to wait for her third crack at Ronda Rousey. However, things change, champions lose, and Rousey is no exception. After losing her title to Holly Holm, Rousey unknowingly kicked the door open for Miesha “Cupcake” Tate.
Many expected Ronda Rousey to be granted an immediate rematch after her loss to Holly Holm at UFC 193. It seemed almost perfect timing for a rematch that would headline UFC 200 and give the fans a show worth paying for. This idea seemed almost too good to be true and as it turned out, it was. Reports began to come in that Rousey was injured. Some reports said she had a broken jaw, others said she was unable to eat solid foods due to her teeth being loose. Yet steadfast and full of moxie, UFC president Dana White assured the public that Rousey would be ready to fight and there was no reason for Holm to fight before their eventual rematch. Holm and her camp publicly disagreed. The new titleholder seemed destined to be a fighting champion. She didn’t want to wait for fights; she wanted to put the gloves on and compete. When asked who she thought she’d like to fight, the first name out of Holm’s mouth was Miesha Tate.
Now I’m not saying I am the only one who wanted to see this fight happen, but I am saying I called for this back in November (see the article here). Here is why this fight is interesting. If you go back and watch Tate’s last eight fights, starting with her first loss to Rousey, you will see progression. Tate is 5-3 over that span but she has shown improvement in many areas that she was known for having deficiencies. Her wrestling, which was always stellar, has improved as well. Early in her career, Tate would often try and force takedowns when they were not available and she relied on them to keep control. Today’s Miesha Tate uses transitions and chain takedowns much better; additionally her level changes off strikes have improved tremendously. She is throwing more combinations that end with takedown attempts and it seems to be keeping her opponents guessing. Tate’s strikes have improved as well. She showed just how effective she is as a striker in her last fight against Jessica Eye. While Eye took control of the striking early, Tate adjusted to the footwork and length of Eye and overcame what many believed would be a disadvantage on the feet. As the fight wore on, Tate put on display just how far she has come on the feet as she used her counter punching and kicks to take the fight where she wanted. Eye was unable to adjust to the feints, short combinations, and takedowns that seemed to come so fluidly for Tate.
The one area that I didn’t notice major improvements in Tate’s game over the last eight fights was her submissions. However, submissions have never been a huge problem for Tate; she’s solid on the mat. Tate has six submission wins to her credit and over her twenty-two fights has only been submitted twice and those were both against, you guessed it, Ronda Rousey. There is no shame in getting submitted by Rousey, but what we did see was improvement in submission defense between the two fights. Tate’s second shot against Rousey was a bit sloppy compared to what we might see now, but it did allow the world to see someone escape a Rousey submission attempt on multiple occasions.
With all that hard work behind her, Tate must focus in on the task at hand, a UFC bantamweight title shot against Holly Holm at UFC 197. Holm posses a huge threat to just about everyone in the division and Tate is no exception. Holm is clearly the best striker Tate will have ever faced. She uses her footwork to set up long strikes that are often capped off by powerful kicks. Her movement can frustrate fighters who want to get inside on the longer, more powerful fighter. As I mentioned earlier, Tate had to deal with some of these very issues when she recently faced off against Jessica Eye. That being said, it is important to point out that Holm is going to be much stronger than Eye and it is unlikely that she will go down quite as easily. Tate needs to find a way to cut off the movement of Holm, slowing her down and making her work harder to escape clinch positions. While Tate might not be able to stop Holm from getting away, it will only work in Tate’s favor, as Holm will likely slow a bit in the later rounds. Beyond that the one weapon that people might not think about is the power of Tate. She has been able to drop, stun, or knockout many of her foes. While she didn’t get hit too often against Rousey, she has been known to back out of striking exchanges by moving straight back, leaving her chin exposed. If Tate can some how land clean, it might spell disaster for the newly crowned champ.
Miesha Tate has come a long way from her days as a high school state champion wrestler in Washington. She has built herself into a fighter who many believe has the tools to be a champion. Now four years after her last shot at UFC gold, she is set to make what could be her last chance at the belt a successful one. Tate is going to need all the skills she has worked on over that time to be crisp as she is facing, in my opinion, the most well rounded opponent she has ever stood across from in the cage.
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