Miesha Tate understands she will never get the opportunity to directly avenge her past losses to Ronda Rousey. Consequently, she believes that eventually seeking a fight against Kayla Harrison might offer the next best alternative.
Their rivalry is remembered as one of the most intense in the sport`s history. Tate fought and lost to Rousey twice, with their final bout occurring in 2013. Although Tate later defeated Holly Holm—who famously knocked out Rousey to claim the UFC title—she never secured a third fight against Rousey, who has since retired with no intentions of returning to competition.
This lack of closure has understandably left Tate with lingering feelings. However, with two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison now part of the UFC roster, Tate sees a potential opportunity to face an opponent with a highly similar skill set.
“I have desperately wanted to show how much better I can do now against a judoka than ever,” Tate stated, reflecting on her experiences after facing Rousey, an Olympic bronze medalist in judo. “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.”
Since those encounters, Tate has been focused on significantly improving her skills against opponents with judo bases. She feels she now possesses the necessary tools and knowledge. “So at any point, even if it`s not for a title fight, I do think it would be great to fight Kayla Harrison.”
Tate, who is scheduled to compete against Yana Santos at the upcoming UFC Des Moines event in May, emphasized that unlike her heated history with Rousey, her interest in fighting Harrison is strictly professional and not personal.
She acknowledges that Harrison is distinct from Rousey as a fighter. However, their shared background as elite judokas and their tendency to dominate opponents on the ground create notable similarities between them.
For this reason, Tate is eager for the chance to test herself against Harrison, viewing it as a potential means to confront and move past some of the lingering psychological effects from her losses to Rousey.
“Kayla is a very revered judoka,” Tate commented. “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.”
She added that she would feel proud if defeating Harrison led observers to acknowledge her significant improvement in countering judo and validate her belief that she could now potentially defeat Rousey in a hypothetical third meeting. “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.”
While Tate`s next fight is in May, Harrison is set to challenge Julianna Pena for her first opportunity at a UFC championship in the co-main event of UFC 316 in June. Tate intends to watch this matchup closely, not only due to her long-standing friendship with Pena but also because she is keen on re-entering the title contention picture sooner rather than later.
“I’m excited to see what happens between those two and I might just call for it,” Tate remarked regarding the possibility of challenging the winner. “I think it’s OK. I think I’ve earned that.”
