Even though former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate is retired and has no plans of fighting again in the near future, she remains a respected voice in today’s MMA. As one of the leading figures in women’s combat sports, Tate is well aware of the struggles that females face in the world of fighting. However, according to “Cupcake,” UFC has done an incredible job at bridging the cap between men and women inside of the cage.
“It kind of blows my mind to be honest,” Tate told the Fight Society podcast when asked about the ongoing adoption of more women’s divisions. “That’s one thing I will say about the UFC, they don’t do anything half-assed and if they’re going to do it, they do it. When they finally decided to get behind the women’s fighting, they did it with 100-percent commitment. People ask me what’s the difference between boxing and MMA, why is women’s MMA so much more successful? Because the promotion actually gave us equal opportunity to display our skill sets.
“We’ve headlined huge cards and a lot of co-main events to very, very big cards. It’s one of those things when a promotion gets behind you and gives you the same push and the same opportunity for exposure and the exact equal opportunity, well that shows you what can happen when it’s there.”
Considering UFC president Dana White once famously said that women will never fight inside of the Octagon, it’s pretty incredible to see how far the sport has come. Not only has the women’s bantamweight division powered on after Ronda Rousey’s fall from grace, but Joanna Jedrzejczyk is ruling over a talent-rich women’s strawweight division, Germaine de Randamie was just crowned the women’s featherweight champion back at UFC 208 and the promotion just announced that the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) will be for the inaugural women’s flyweight championship.
“We don’t need be raised to be these delicate little flowers,” Tate said. “Let’s let the girls reach their inner potential. I love that the UFC has given opportunities to many women to showcase their skill sets.”
If Tate ever wanted to step back inside the cage the promotion would have no issues granting her the opportunity. But until then, the former UFC champ will have to watch from the sidelines as other women take the UFC torch and run with it.