Tate vs Rousey: Ronda Rousey's Brash Personality Is Just What Women's MMA Needs

For all the tremendous growth that the sport of mixed martial arts has experienced in recent years, women's MMA has been stuck in the mud.

On Saturday, we're going to see something we don't often see. Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey are squaring off in the headlining bout of a Strikeforce event on Showtime. According to Sports Illustrated, Tate vs. Rousey is just the second women's fight to headline a major MMA promotion in the states since 2009.

The Tate vs. Rousey bout is generating buzz largely because of Rousey's outspokenness. She only has four professional fights under her belt, and that kind of experience isn't quite worthy of a shot at Tate's bantamweight championship belt.

Rousey basically talked her way into this title shot, and she's not about to apologize for doing so.

"When I looked at the state of women's MMA, what I saw was that it was missing rivalries or anything theatrical about it," Rousey told SI. "Everybody was trying to be Miss America, unwilling to go under any kind of criticism, and taking the safe answers. I thought I needed to do whatever I could to get attention."

Tate isn't happy about the way Rousey finagled her way into a title match against her. The way she sees it, Rousey has disrespected a process, one that requires a lot of hard work and effort to get to the top.

"We've been making the road that she happily trod up," Tate said of herself and fellow women's mixed martial artists, according to ESPN W. "Then she wants to take the limelight and the credit."

Though Rousey thinks her actions are what women's MMA needs, Tate thinks the exact opposite.

"I just feel that, all in all, she's not a good representation for our sport," Tate said. "She knows how to sell a fight, and that's fine and dandy. I feel our skills should come before anything else."

This is a case where you can see both sides of the argument pretty clearly, and I for one, can definitely see where Tate is coming from. Respect, for both the sport itself and other fighters, is something that counts for a lot in mixed martial arts. Though some fighters are undoubtedly more eccentric than others, the majority of professional MMA fighters accept the fact that the fights themselves are the spectacle, one that is humbling to the utmost for the participants.

In so many words, mixed martial arts is no country for the shameless self-promotion that you find in boxing, and it's not meant to be theater. The last thing MMA needs is its fighters turning the sport into professional wrestling.

But none of this means Rousey doesn't have a point. She's defying the conventions that have been put in place by those who came before her, and that's not a bad thing.

Rousey's brash way of doing things is undeniably self-serving, but Tate and others should not be too quick to scorn the extra attention that Rousey has generated for Saturday's bout. Tate doesn't have to like it, but she should appreciate the fact that she's about to participate in a luxury that women's MMA doesn't get to enjoy all that often: A headlining fight.

This couldn't have happened without Rousey. We're going to find out exactly how good she is when she goes up against Tate, but she's nothing if not marketable. She's not the first women's MMA fighter to have the looks (nor will she be the last), but she's coming along with the right personality at the right time. Women's MMA needed a kick in the rear, and Rousey's personality has delivered it.

Tate and everyone else who has a problem with this should look on the bright side and view this situation as a means to an end. Mixed martial arts is kicking its way out of niche territory, yet women's MMA has remained a niche within the big picture. It's now getting some serious attention paid to it. If this is what it takes for women's MMA to catch up in the race to become mainstream, then so be it.

Rousey doesn't have to win to make it all worth it, though that would help. If she loses, all those who are tuning in to see what all the fuss is about will get a glimpse of what women's MMA is all about. 

If Tate wants to prove a point, she can prove it with her fists.