Miesha Tate explains how fighting Kayla Harrison might allow her to exorcise some Ronda Rousey demons
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Miesha Tate knows she'll never get the chance to exact revenge on her past losses to Ronda Rousey so eventually seeking out a fight against Kayla Harrison might be the next best thing.
Regarded as one of the fiercest rivalries in the history of the sport, Tate fought and fell to Rousey twice with their final encounter taking place back in 2013. Tate went onto defeat Holly Holm — who knocked out Rousey to win the UFC title — but she never got to run it back with Rousey again with the now former champion settled into retirement with no plans to ever compete again.
That obviously left a sour taste in Tate's mouth but she might get a chance to face a different fighter with a similar skill set now that two-time Olympic judo gold medalist Kayla Harrison is in the UFC.
"I have desperately wanted to show how much better I can do now against a judoka than ever," Tate told MMA Fighting after facing Rousey — an Olympic bronze medalist in judo. "Because I did lose those first two matches to Ronda and I just didn't understand it. I have an entirely different coaching staff now. I have people who really can mimic someone who has a judo background when at that time when I was facing Ronda, it was impossible to find women who were high level in judo but also OK with me punching them in the face as I'm trying to not get thrown. I couldn't find it. I did train with some men but the men weren't as slick as Ronda. There were a lot more about muscling things.
"So since that moment in time [I've been] trying to be much better at [judo]. I feel like I finally have the tools. So at any point, even if it's not for a title fight, I do think it would be great to fight Kayla Harrison."
Tate, who returns to action against Yana Santos at the upcoming UFC Des Moines card in May, makes it clear that unlike her heated encounters with Rousey, there's nothing personal at all involved with wanting to fight Harrison.
Of course she also understands that Harrison isn't the same kind of fighter as Rousey but coming from a nearly identical background in judo with a tendency to maul opponents on the ground at least makes them somewhat similar.
That's why Tate would love the chance to test herself against Harrison and perhaps exorcise a few of those Rousey demons along the way.
"Kayla is a very revered judoka," Tate said. "She's got similar credentials to Ronda. She's her own fighter, she's her own person. It wouldn't be as sweet as vindicating those two losses to Ronda, however, it would be a great second and I would take that.
"I would take pride in people saying you know what, I think Miesha was right. She was able to back up what she said and she did learn a lot about judo and she was able to beat Kayla Harrison and likely if they ever had that third fight, she'd beat Ronda, too."
While Tate is scheduled in May, Harrison gets her first crack at becoming UFC champion when she faces Julianna Pena in the co-main event at UFC 316 in June. Tate is obviously going to keep a close eye on that matchup not only because she's been friends with Pena for many years but also due to her interest in getting back in the title race sooner than later.
"I'm excited to see what happens between those two and I might just call for it," Tate said about potentially challenging the winner. "I think it's OK. I think I've earned that."
