Miesha Tate would like the UFC to book her against new UFC Champ Holly Holm next, but now she’s got another fighter calling her out: Bethe Correia.
The Brazilian, who challenged Ronda Rousey for that Women’s Bantamweight Championship in August, said this week that she’s not impressed with Tate’s UFC wins, and thinks she can prove Tate doesn’t deserve another title fight.
“I believe Miesha Tate’s fights were not that great to secure her a title shot that she asks for so much,” Correia said in an interview with Tatame (translated via Lucas Rezende at BloodyElbow.com). “She hasn’t knocked anybody out. I have. I want to fight her and show what I’m really capable of. I only have one loss and that is to the former champion. No wonder all girls in the UFC want to fight me. I’ve been waiting, but I really want to fight my second biggest rival in the UFC.
“She called me out, campaigned on Twitter and said some horrific things about me. She even called me a newbie and said I shouldn’t be where I am. That sounds like envy to me. So I want this fight to happen, because I think she doesn’t deserve to fight for the title again.”
Penick’s Analysis: I don’t think the UFC is going to book Holm vs. Tate, so it really depends on how happy or unhappy she finds herself with the organization after meeting with them. If she is willing to take a fight with a bit of a pay bump, Correia’s probably the right fight to make for her. It’s probably the easiest of the potential high profile matchups she could get, as Correia’s title shot was entirely built upon beating Ronda Rousey’s friends rather than top end competition. It’s the easy money matchup for her, because stylistically she’s got plenty in her game that can give Correia trouble. The fight is simply a more realistic booking than Tate actually getting a title fight with Holm.
[Photo (c) Jayne Kamin-Oncea via USA Today Sports]
Tate should take the easy paycheck and retain a title shot after the Holm/Rousey situation sorts out.