No bags, no stress for Miesha Tate heading into UFC battle against Rin Nakai
Miesha Tate didn't have the most enjoyable trip to Tokyo. The former Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion missed her flight in Los Angeles and when she got to Japan, her luggage didn't show up.
She didn't have a lot of time to acclimate to the time zone in Tokyo, 16 hours ahead of her home in Las Vegas. She didn't have her luggage. She had plenty of interviews to do.
Tate, though, didn't stress even as her fight on a UFC Fight Pass card on Saturday against Rin Nakai rapidly approached.
She'd broken a two-fight losing skid in her last outing when she bested Liz Carmouche in Orlando, Fla., in April, and conceded it's easier to be positive coming off a win.
She went into that fight with Carmouche in a difficult spot. She'd lost two in a row – to champion Ronda Rousey and top contender Cat Zingano – and three of four.
But most felt she was no worse than the third-best fighter after Rousey and Zingano, and perhaps second-best, in the UFC.
Still, fighting isn't about what people believe. The results in the cage speak for themselves and with back-to-back losses, the Carmouche fight was huge for Tate.
"I was starting to think to myself [before the Carmouche fight], 'Am I cursed, or what?' " Tate said. "I got this great opportunity because women's mixed martial arts had finally broken into the UFC and my first two fights were against the champion and the No. 1 contender. I definitely felt and still feel that the fight with Zingano was stopped prematurely. I won the first two rounds handedly. She didn't do anything to me. I felt the stoppage was terrible. Kim Winslow is a horrible, horrid ref. And against Ronda Rousey, I'm the only person to take her even out of Round 1 and I escaped five of her arm bars."
It was all good, but it didn't matter. A loss is a loss and a win is a win, and Tate needed to beat Carmouche. She may not have been cut with another loss, but she would have dropped well down the pecking order and would have had to spend the better part of the next year or 18 months working her way back up.
But now she gets to face Nakai, a woman noted for her strength. Tate is close to a 3-1 favorite and with a win, will once again be near the top of the division.
Fighting the best has given Tate a unique perspective on the top of the division. Carmouche, Zingano and Rousey, in no particular order, may be the three strongest women in the UFC.
Tate said for her money, Carmouche was easily the strongest. Being able to deal with Carmouche despite her strength is an edge for her going into the Nakai fight.
"I've been in with some of the best girls and the strongest girls in the UFC," Tate said. "I know Cat has quite an impressive physique and physical appearance, and she is a strong girl, but honestly, maybe it's me, but I just felt Liz Carmouche was stronger. When she grabbed me, it was like trying to break an iron grip. That girl was incredibly strong.
"Nothing against Cat, and I'm just giving my honest assessment, but the first two rounds Cat and I fought I know I was outwrestling her. I threw her around, I hit harder, I had her on the bottom. She didn't feel that strong. She had good top pressure, and she was more well-rounded than Liz, but Liz was crazy strong."
Tate has gotten stronger and more explosive in the last two years as she's worked to try to move back to the top of the division. And she wants to get back onto a run.
"Some people only started watching the women fight when we got into the UFC, so a lot of those people aren't fully aware of me and what I've done," Tate said. "So it's good for me to be able to go out and give them a little show to prove what I'm all about."
