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Why Ronda Rousey's biggest rival was rooting for her against Bethe Correia

Ronda Rousey submits Miesha Tate during a bantamweight bout on March 3. (Getty)
Ronda Rousey submits Miesha Tate during a bantamweight bout on March 3. (Getty)

Ronda Rousey has been so dominant as a UFC champion that talk now focuses not on how you beat her, but how long you last.

Just ask Miesha Tate.

“Cupcake” actually made it out of the first round against undefeated “Rowdy” in their second fight at UFC 168 in 2013. (Tate suffered a first-round submission loss to Rousey back in 2012.)

None of Rousey's 10 other opponents can say that.

Now, with Rousey’s dominant 34-second knockout of Bethe Correia on Saturday, eyes once again turn to the Rousey-Tate rivalry.

“It was a pretty quick fight, which I kind of anticipated,” Tate said on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. “I actually thought she might finish it at the end of the first round because I know [Rousey] really wanted to punish Bethe. But Bethe ended up going down like a sack of potatoes before, I think, Ronda could really punish her like she wanted to.”

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Tate vs. Rousey was the first true rivalry in women’s MMA history, but Correia’s veiled pre-fight comments about Rousey’s father’s suicide had fans shuddering. It may not have been the long, drawn-out rivalry that Tate and Rousey share, but the comments by Correia made Saturday’s fight seem that much more personal.

Even Rousey’s greatest rival thought the Brazilian stepped over the line.

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“If there was any time that I actually felt bad for Ronda – kind of sympathized with her – it was in this fight,” she said. “Because I really thought that Bethe overstepped some personal boundaries that she just shouldn’t. I mean, Ronda and I are probably never going to get along. We’re probably never going to be friends, necessarily, but there’s a certain amount of respect that one another should have for each other – as fighters, if nothing more.

“I think [Correia] got what was coming to her.”

Tate admitted that she was rooting for Rousey, and not just because she felt Correia deserved a beating.

Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate exchange punches during their second fight at UFC 168. (Getty)
Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate exchange punches during their second fight at UFC 168. (Getty)

UFC president Dana White said that a third fight with Tate and Rousey could co-headline Dallas Cowboys Stadium on Dec. 5 alongside the much-anticipated Conor McGregor-Jose Aldo match. However, Tate’s manager has yet to get an official call from UFC brass, so until there is official word, Tate is staying ready.

And hopeful.

“I want to be that person,” Tate admitted. “…I know that will be one hell of a fight. I know that Miesha Tate, she actually has a chance to beat Ronda -- and I know a lot of fans feel that way.”

“We gotta get some competition here. We gotta get these girls to step up their game. And that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Tate says that her motivation is at an all-time high. And with four consecutive UFC wins to her credit, it’s easy to understand why. She started fighting at 19, and in just two weeks she will be 29, so there are few, if any, that have more experience; and there is certainly nobody more familiar with fighting Ronda Rousey.

She admits that Rousey has been doing “incredible things” and that she rightfully deserves all the accolades that have come her way. That doesn’t mean, however, that she isn’t spending every waking hour thinking of ways to beat Rousey if they do eventually meet in the coming months.

And if it’s in Dallas, then all the better.

“I think that would be great,” she said about the rumored showdown in Dallas. “I think that would be one of the biggest pay-per-views ever in history, if not blowing all the other ones out of the water.

“And if I get to fight Ronda on an amazing card like that, it’ll make it that much sweeter when I go out there and take the title.”

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Ryan McKinnell is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports Cagewriter blog. Have a tip? Email him or