In March, former Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate surprised the mixed martial arts community when she ended her five-year retirement from competition. In a new series on her personal YouTube page, the former Strikeforce 135 pound champion chronicles her return to the Octagon on July 17, and the reasons behind restarting her fighting journey.
Miesha Tate explains UFC return in new YouTube series
“I don’t think I can put a real reason on why [she ‘s coming out of retirement]. I mean I can explain some of the reasons that I’ve thought about cognitively. The pandemic took the sport away from me completely. I was eight, nine months pregnant. I missed it. I wanted to train again, but I think sometimes when people aren’t afraid to follow their calling, their destiny, there really doesn’t have to be a reason why. It just feels right. That’s my only reason.”
Tate lost her UFC title to eventual two-division champion Amanda Nunes in the main event of UFC 200, then followed that up with a unanimous decision setback to Raquel Pennington four months later. After her first losing streak in three years, Tate chose to walk away from the sport at 30-years-old. She exited the industry as a pioneer for women’s MMA, having competed in 25 bouts over a nine-year career that helped the progress the ladies side of the sport, and featured major peaks and valleys.
“Cupcake” rose to notoriety in becoming a rising star in Bellator CEO Scott Coker’s previous organization Strikeforce. Where she won a one-night four-woman tournament, and eventually the bantamweight championship from fellow pioneer Marloes Coenen in 2011. However, her biggest spotlight came in her rivalry with division superstar Ronda Rousey. As the pair competed for 135-pound gold in both Strikeforce and the UFC. Tate lost by armbar submission in each booking against the former UFC champion.
However, Tate returned to division prominence in 2016 as she worked her way back to a championship opportunity after a four-fight win streak. At the UFC’s historic 200th event, Tate faced off with Holly Holm, the woman who made history four months prior by handing Rousey her first defeat and taking her championship in front of 56,000 Australian fans at UFC 193. Tate would beat “The Preacher’s Daughter” by submission in the fifth and final round of their title bout main event.
Since her retirement, Tate married former UFC fighter Johnny Nunez and the pair have seen the births of their first two children. Tate also took on an ambassador role with Asian MMA powerhouse ONE Championship in 2018.
In her Octagon return, the 34-year-old will face 12-fight Octagon veteran Marion Reneau in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 31. The card takes place in the organization’s home base in Las Vegas, Nevada in their UFC Apex.
