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Former Strikeforce 135-pound women's champion Miesha Tate went on The MMA Hour Monday and told her side of the story regarding why she didn't accept the offer to fight newly crowned UFC 135-pound women's champion Ronda Rousey in Feburary.
It was simple: she was never offered the fight despite what UFC president Dana White alluded to last week during UFC on Fox media week.
"I was never presented with that. I had made it clear that I wanted to take some time off after my last win over Julie Kedzie, but that doesn't mean you don't make an exception to the rule when something like that is presented. Clearly when I made those statements, that was before women were coming to the UFC for sure. That was before it be would an opportunity to headline. That was before it would an opportunity to make history."
The 26-year-old Tate faced Rousey in March and gave the undefeated Olympian her toughest test before famously succumbing to Rousey's armbar at 4:27 of the first round. Tate (13-3) returned in August with a exciting third round submission win over Kedzie, a bout many were surprised was on the ShoExtreme portion of Strikeforce that night.
Following the win, Tate said she was going to take time off to help rediscover her fire, one of the reasons she was never called when it was made official that Rousey was heading to the UFC. However, Tate told host Ariel Helwani that the opportunity to compete in the first ever women's match in UFC history would make anyone reconsider.
"It's not something that if the UFC had offered to me, I would ever even consider turning down."
While Tate admitted that Rousey's jabs in the media that Tate is scared of her are bothersome, she also threw her own subtle jab at the UFC for paying so much attention to Rousey and no one else.
"I think they're putting a little too many eggs in one basket. I mean, what happens if [Rousey] goes out there and she does lose to Liz for some reason? Then it's kind of like, all of this that they've put into it is all nothing. I feel like it's not maybe the smartest thing to just base everything solely off of Ronda, when clearly there's more talent and I'm also right here too. I really feel like I was a big part of making history.
If I'd just tapped out when Ronda got me in the armbar, it wouldn't have been such an explosive thing. I feel like the reason she's up for submission of the year is because of my stubbornness."
The UFC came under fire for announcing Liz Carmouche (7-2) as Rousey's first UFC title defense as both Tate and Sarah McMann were regarded as more worthy and marketable competitors.
You can watch the entire MMA Hour now.
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