Ronda Rousey willing to fight Miesha Tate a third time

The bitter rivalry between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate lost some of its fire when Rousey beat Tate for a second time in December 2013. That doesn’t mean the two will never meet inside the Octagon again.

Rousey, who is set to fight Bethe Correia at UFC 190 in Brazil Saturday night, said Monday that she has not ruled out fighting Tate a third time.

“I need these other girls,” she told reporters, per Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting. “It’s not like I can do this by myself. I need a dancing partner. The analogy that I use a lot is that these girls are like plants. Sometimes you can grow a crop and you can harvest it year after year like Miesha. Sometimes you harvest it once, it’ll never grow back.”

Rousey defeated Tate to win the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship in 2012. More than a year later, Rousey beat Tate again in her second ever UFC fight to successfully defend her UFC Women’s Bantamweight title. Rousey submitted Tate with an armbar in both fights.

However, Tate is the only opponent to ever take Rousey past the first round. It took Rousey 58 seconds into the third round to defeat Miesha in their second fight. And if the fans want to see it again, Rousey is all for it.

“There’s fan interest, so then there’s my interest,” she said. “I’m interested in just defending my title as many times as I need to before I feel like I’m done. If she’s the best competitor and she’s who the fans want to see, then I’m extremely interested in doing it.”

While Rousey has made some inappropriate comments about Tate in the past, she has always been complimentary about her as a fighter. Tate has won four straight fights since losing to Rousey the second time, and Ronda certainly doesn’t seem to hate her as much as she despises her upcoming opponent. If the fans want it, Dana White will probably make it happen.