Miesha Tate: This bitch Ronda Rousey is not going to beat me

When Strikeforce returns to Showtime on March 3, 2012, at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, it will do so with a fight card headlined by a women's bantamweight championship bout.

Miesha Tate will put her 135-pound title on the line against the Chael Sonnen inspired Ronda Rousey. And because "Rowdy" is doing so much talking, even dragging Tate's boyfriend into the discussion, "Takedown" wants to do more than just retain her belt.

"I think it's just what I need, actually. I think that I've been fighting for long enough that sometimes I get a little bit comfortable, that's the truth of the matter. And when you don't like someone, the idea of losing to them is just unbearable. Like, I cannot think of losing to this girl, it cannot happen. My pride is on the line here, people. You don't understand. It's not just winning a fight or keeping my title, it's like, this bitch is not going to beat me, there's no way this is going to happen. I think, for me, it's just going to make it that much more exciting because you're going to see a much more exhilarated me, you're going to see a much more pumped and vicious, I think. I don't want to just like fight this girl, I don't want to just beat her, I want to really hurt her. I really do, I want to like mar her face if at all possible, that would be nice."

Tate originally campaigned to defend her title against Sarah Kaufman, a woman she lost to earlier in her career and has been champing at the bit to avenge said defeat.

Kaufman was going to get the fight, too, until Rousey stepped in and started popping off at the mouth, creating a firestorm on Twitter that helped reignite interest in women's MMA. In fact, she's been on a press tour the likes of which hasn't been seen since Gina Carano was in her heyday.

All this to the dismay of Tate, of course, who is using Rousey's big mouth as all the motivation she needs to get up for their pending clash next month. If all goes well, it will be one of the most watched women's fights in the history of the sport. And, if all goes well for Miesha, Ronda will leave with a disfigured face.

Should be fun.

Hear more from Tate on her upcoming title defense after the jump.