Miesha Tate Says ‘Dream’ Scenario Includes Ronda Rousey Trilogy

The rivalry between Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey helped boost women’s mixed martial arts to a whole new level.

Some might even say that their first meeting under the Strikeforce banner on March 3, 2012 served as a lauching point to bring women into the UFC. Now, females are a part of virtually every card held by the Las Vegas-based promotion, including Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 198, which is headlined by a bantamweight tilt between Tate and Ketlen Vieira.

Tate returned from a nearly five-year hiatus at UFC on ESPN 26 on July 17, when she defeated Marion Reneau via third-round technical knockout. Rousey’s last MMA appearance came in 2016, when she was stopped in the opening round by Amanda Nunes in a 135-pound title bout at UFC 206. Unlike Tate, Rousey’s has shown no interest in a comeback, and she recently gave birth to her first child with former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne.

In an interview with ESPN, Tate said a “dream” scenario would be a third meeting with Rousey, who defeated Tate via armbar in that aforementioned Strikeforce bout as well as in their rematch at UFC 168 in December 2013.

"Don't get me twisted," Tate said. "I'm not trying to call out a brand-new mama. This has to be something she wants, too. I wouldn't want to just call her out. She's doing her thing, she's retired. I would want to fight her at her best. If she chose she wanted to come back and she was like, 'I want to come back and fight Miesha Tate or whoever,' I would love another shot at her. But only if she was taking it seriously and she was training at her best and that's what she wants, too.

“I know I have what it takes to beat Ronda Rousey,” she added.

Tate claims that her previous relationship with ex-UFC fighter Bryan Caraway contributed to her downfall in the matchups with Rousey, and that was something her rival used to her advantage. Caraway led Tate’s camps back then, but now “Cupcake” has a new relationship and an entirely different camp since coming out of retirement.

“She [Rousey] knew part of the kryptonite for me was in my former relationship. [She] was causing the rift between him and I so that everything was unstable in the personal life," Tate said. "I think I went into those fights so congested in my mind. I really wasn't able to be just fighting her. I was also fighting myself. I was also fighting my relationship. I was also fighting all these extenuating circumstances.”

While a Rousey trilogy might not be the most realistic of goals, Tate believes a win over Vieira puts her right back in the championship conversation at 135 pounds.

"I think a dominant win over her puts me, for sure, in the top five," Tate said. "And I understand it could definitely put me in a No. 1 contender conversation. I think it depends on the performance.”