Miesha Tate will defend her Strikeforce Bantamweight title on March 3rd against Ronda Rousey. Tate is 12-2 and has been competing professionally since 2007. Rousey is 4-0 and only had her first professional fight last March. Based on their experience and career accomplishments, Tate doesn’t think Rousey deserves a title shot.
“Honestly, I just don’t think that she was next in line,” Tate told Showtime’s Heidi Androl during the Strikeforce: Rockhold vs. Jardine show Saturday. “I think she’s done great so far. She’s had a really impressive career, but I think she’s still new.
“She’s only a year into her career. I’m about six. [Sarah] Kaufman’s about six. Kaufman’s 14-1, I’m 12-2. We’re kind of veterans of the sport.
“She kind of talked herself into a title fight. I’m going to be very excited to send her to where I think she belongs, and that is the back of the line.”
The gauntlet has been officially thrown. Tate’s friction with Rousey is nothing new; the debate between the began late November when Rousey called for the match because it’s a marketable “hot chick” fight. Tate later expressed a similar sentiment, saying that Rousey needs to beat some top 10 women before she gets a title shot. But Tate does understand why, from a business perspective, Strikeforce wants the fight.
I understand where Tate feels it’s unfair, but I have to side with Rousey. Rousey is a damn good fighter, she’s a damn good marketer, and I want to see if she can back up her talk and beat Tate. The interest she’s generated in the fight has been great for the sport.
