TATE SUGGESTS ROUSEY IS JUST FIGHTING AS A FAVOR TO UFC
Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate blasted UFC 207’s Ronda Rousey for refusing to engage in the usual media obligations leading up to tonight’s fight.
Speaking on FS1’s Undisputed, Tate questioned Rousey’s mentality and motivation and wonders if she still has the same hunger for fighting. “It makes you wonder where her head is at,” Tate said. “Is she laser-focused, or is she struggling?”
Tate argued that if Rousey truly missed the sport, she would’ve returned sooner and that she may have other things in mind for the future. “If she really wanted to continue fighting, she would’ve been back there sooner,” Tate said. “Her taking a year and some change off, I think she wants to do other things. I don’t think she really wants to be in there fighting anymore, but I think she’s doing it sort of as a favor to the UFC.”
The former champion also said she believes Nunes will take the win tonight citing her experience fighting the defending champion. “I have never been hit that hard in my life, so (Nunes) packs one heck of a punch, and I’ll tell you one thing, it’s only going to take one of those to land clean, and it’s going to ring Ronda’s bell,” Tate said.
UFC 207 takes place tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas with Amanda Nunes defending her belt against Ronda Rousey.
Wade Keller’s Analysis: I’ll jump in here with some thoughts… Maybe Tate knows more and isn’t just speculating, but I don’t think any of the conclusions she reached are necessarily fair. Rousey is a peculiar personality, and trying to evaluate her reaction to losing and her refusal to participate in media hype doesn’t mean what it might mean with most people. I’m not ruling it out that what Tate says is true, or that she has more reason to believe it’s true than just Rousey’s time away and lack of media interaction, but it just seems like a potentially big conclusion to jump to on limited information. As for Rousey being a prima donna for not participating in media hype, she is, and she is apparently willing to take the heat for it. It sets a precedent that UFC could regret setting, too.)
FRIDAY NOTEBOOK ITEMS…
-Cody Garbrandt told Ariel Helwani he expects to KO Dominick Cruz by the second round, during an episode of the MMA Hour.
-Speaking with MMAFighting, T.J. Dillashaw said he is considering switching weight classes to expedite a path to a title shot.
-Khabib Nurmagomedov posted a message on Instagram criticizing the UFC. “This message to @UFC: It is clear to everyone that you hiding Conor from me. But stop lying to your fans like I don’t want fight with Aldo. I’m ready to fight with anyone in my division. Give me relevant fight, so you won’t be able to hide the belt from me after. But not the fight, where people say after my victory: he is too small, Khabib too big for him etc. I’m asking you for match that whole world is waiting for, give me Tony. You have never matched up two guys with 9 and 8 win streak in UFC, NEVER IN UFC HISTORY. #telltruthtopeople.”
NOW CHECK OUT YESTERDAY’S UPDATE: THURSDAY NEWS DIGEST 12/29: Two of the usual suspects failed to make weight at 207 weigh-ins (w/Hiscoe’s Analysis)
Leave a Reply