Miesha Tate on Ronda Rousey: 'I'd Fight Her 100 Times'

No one would really be surprised if you told them Miesha Tate did not like losing to Ronda Rousey for the second time at UFC 168.

Tate is a former champion herself. Anyone who can rise to that level in a sport with so many ways to lose is not comfortable with defeat. When you add in the fact that she lost to a bitter rival Rousey, you have a fire that’s still burning.

As told to Fox Sports and reported by Mike Chiappetta, Tate has clearly not reconciled with the fact that she is 0-2 against the brash Olympian and UFC Champion.

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I told Dana White that I’d fight her as many times as he’d let me. I don’t care if I fought her 100 times and I lost the first 99 of them. I would fight her 100 times, as many times as they let me. If she beats me nine times out of 10, that might be the reality of it, but I would be game to fight her any day at any time they let me.

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While many fans may laugh at this, if we look at the history of combative sports, we find that Tate’s thinking isn’t an anomaly. Jake LaMotta fought Sugar Ray Robinson six times, winning only once. If LaMotta had gotten more chances to take on Robinson, he probably would have.

No one likes to lose against a person they dislike. It must have burned Ken Shamrock to lose three times to Tito Ortiz just as badly as it burns Tate to have lost to Rousey again.

While Tate told Chiappetta that she felt “like s--t” during the fight and couldn’t get out of first gear, she did admit that part of her problem that night came in the form of a seasoned opponent. Rousey is used to pressure-cooker situations—she competed on the Olympic stage and also has one UFC title defense under her belt.

Tate went on to praise Rousey, declaring her a “phenomenal” athlete whose judo is “amazing," both of which she used expertly to retain her title.

Then, of course, there is the matter of the snubbed handshake.

“At the moment I felt that was the right thing to do, to show that I respected her as an athlete. That’s what it was about. Now that it’s over, you won’t see me trying to shake her hand anytime soon.”