Miesha Tate explains why she'd rather fight Ronda Rousey over Amanda Nunes
Miesha Tate has faced the best of the best throughout her storied MMA career with only a few tough losses spotted throughout an otherwise stellar record.
Still, those losses are tough to swallow, and Tate has never fallen to an opponent and not wanted another shot at redemption.
It's part of the reason why Tate is keeping a close eye on the UFC 207 main event between current champion Amanda Nunes and former titleholder Ronda Rousey on Dec. 30.
While Tate's main focus is on her own fight against Raquel Pennington at UFC 205, she'd be remiss not to admit that she thirsts for vengeance against Nunes and Rousey after past losses to both.
Most recently, Tate fell to Nunes at UFC 200 in what she calls "the worst performance of my career.” She's also suffered two losses to Rousey and there's certainly no love lost in what is arguably the biggest rivalry in the history of women's MMA.
Tate would obviously love the chance to fight either one of them after getting past Pennington on Nov. 12, but she can't help but admit a third shot at Rousey would trump a rematch with Nunes.
"Obviously, I still feel like I have unfinished business with Ronda but I feel like I have unfinished business with Amanda now, too. Both are appealing to me. I feel like it's a little more a race against the clock with Ronda," Tate told FOX Sports recently. "My honest opinion, I don’t know how much longer she really intends on fighting.
"So this might be one and done for her, I don't know, if she wins. So that one would be more pressing in the fact that I don't know when she's going to want to walk away from the sport and I will no longer have that opportunity."
Rousey didn't say how much longer she had left in the sport, but there's no telling what decision she might make after the fight with Nunes is settled on Dec. 30.
"Even if she wins, who knows what her thought process is," Tate said about Rousey. "She's been out for a long time. There has to be a reason why she's been out for a really long time. Even with a win, you wonder does she really want to do this anymore?"
That's definitely not the case for Tate.
Even when she became champion earlier this year, Tate stayed focused on fighting and while she's happily taken opportunities outside of the sport, being the best in the UFC remains her No. 1 goal.
She hopes to prove that once again starting with her fight against Pennington at UFC 205.
"I'm not done yet. November 12 is a big day for me," Tate said. "It's a day to re-establish the Miesha Tate that I want everyone to see me as, including myself, so I've got a lot of work ahead of me."
