Miesha Tate

Biography

Miesha Theresa Tate ( MEE-shə; born August 18, 1986) is an American professional mixed martial artist. She currently competes in the women's Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), in which she is a former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Tate formerly competed for Strikeforce, in which she is a former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. She was also the vice president of ONE Championship.

== Early life == Tate was born in Tacoma, Washington, to Michelle Tate, and was raised by Michelle and husband Robert Schmidt. A tomboy during her youth, she often socialized with the boys in her neighborhood on playgrounds. While attending Franklin Pierce High School, Tate sought a sport to participate in, and eventually chose amateur wrestling over basketball. She wrestled on the boys' team from her freshman year until graduation. "I got my butt kicked pretty hard for the first few weeks. I had no idea what I was doing, like a fish out of water," Tate recalled in 2011. During her senior year in 2005, she competed in the girls' state championship and won the title. While Tate was attending Central Washington University, a friend of hers encouraged her to attend the mixed martial arts (MMA) club with her. "I went there, and it really was a bunch of wrestlers. I fit right in," Tate said.

=== Amateur fights === Tate was initially wary of competing in MMA, explaining that she "didn't want to get punched." After seeing her training partners perform in actual competition, Tate was encouraged to accept her first amateur bout in March 2006, in which she was matched against Elizabeth Posener, a Muay Thai specialist. During the first round, Tate wrestled Posener to the mat, but did not strike while holding her there, which prompted Tate's trainers to remind her to. In the second round, Posener bloodied Tate with a knee from inside a clinch. While looking back on the fight in 2012, Tate noted, "I finally realized what I was there to do, and accepted the harsh truth—this wasn't a wrestling match...it was a fight". Tate escaped a submission attempt and responded by "whaling down punches" while Posener was on her back for the remainder of the round. Despite her eagerness to continue, Tate's corner ended the bout after the second round due to the injury she had sustained. Tate later commented, "When I get hurt or damaged, I fight that much harder." She amassed a 5–1 amateur record in MMA before turning pro.

== Mixed martial arts career == Tate made her professional debut in mixed martial arts in November 2007 at the one-night HOOKnSHOOT Women's Grand Prix. She defeated Jan Finney by decision, but was knocked out later in the night by a head-kick from eventual tournament champion Kaitlin Young. Throughout 2008 and 2009, Tate fought in several small organizations which did not regularly televise fights, defeating Jamie Lyn Welsh in CageSport MMA, Jessica Bednark in Freestyle Cage Fighting (FCF), and Dora Baptiste in Atlas Fights.

=== First MMA title === Tate captured the 135-pound FCF Women's Bantamweight Championship by defeating Liz Carreiro at Freestyle Cage Fighting 30 on April 4, 2009. After being knocked down in the first round, Tate gained control of the fight in the second and submitted Carreiro in the third. She defended the title once, defeating Valerie Coolbaugh by first-round armbar submission at FCF 38 in January 2010.

=== Strikeforce === On June 27, 2008, Tate debuted in Strikeforce, an MMA promotion based in San Jose, California, which televised bouts on Showtime and CBS. Fighting in the 135-pound bantamweight division, Tate defeated Elaina Maxwell by unanimous decision at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson. After winning the FCF title in April 2009, she returned to Strikeforce at Strikeforce Challengers: Evangelista vs. Aina on May 15, 2009. Tate was originally scheduled to face Kim Couture, but Couture withdrew from the fight due to undisclosed reasons and Tate was matched up against Sarah Kaufman instead. In a competitive fight, Tate was defeated by unanimous decision, which marked the first time that Kaufman had gone to a decision. After stepping away to defend her FCF title in January 2010, Tate faced Zoila Gurgel at Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs. Mahe on March 26, 2010. Tate won the fight by armbar submission in the second round.

==== Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion ==== Tate was then included in a one-night Strikeforce women's tournament on August 13, 2010, at Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor. A random drawing was held on the day of the weigh-ins to determine first-round matchups and Tate faced Maiju Kujala in the opening round of the tournament. She defeated Kujala by unanimous decision after two rounds to advance to the tournament final. She then defeated Hitomi Akano by unanimous decision after three rounds to become Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Tournament Champion. Tate was scheduled to challenge Marloes Coenen for the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship on March 5, 2011, but withdrew from the fight after suffering a knee injury in training. The fight was rescheduled for Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson on July 30, 2011. Going into the bout, Tate laughed while stating, "I'm going to try to kill her, I really am. I'm going to try to get to the point where the referee is fearful [for] her life and stops the fight. That's my goal." Coenen, known for her jiu-jitsu pedigree, had never been submitted in a mixed martial arts bout. In the fourth round, Tate defeated Coenen via submission (arm-triangle choke) to become the new champion. Following the fight, Tate stated, "I think I'm not in reality quite yet. I can't believe that I have a belt to take home with me. I really had to dig deep those last couple rounds. Like I said, I had a tough end to my training camp, but I just feel like I went out there and I did what I needed to do and I won the fight and I'm world champion."

==== Final Strikeforce fights ==== Tate's first title defense was expected to be against former opponent Sarah Kaufman. However, Ronda Rousey, a new Strikeforce fighter, offered to fight Kaufman for the top-contender spot, seeking a title shot against Tate specifically. "I really want to have a title fight against Miesha Tate. I don't want to take a risk on her losing," Rousey said. Rousey later explained that she believed a title fight between herself and Tate would garner significant attention. Strikeforce officials eventually announced that Rousey would be Tate's first challenger. As Rousey predicted, her bout with Tate was highly publicized in the months preceding it. Rousey had made her MMA debut in early 2011 and defeated all four of her opponents by first-round armbar submission. However, Tate did not believe that Rousey had earned a title shot, and felt that Rousey was largely gaining the opportunity due to being "pretty". The two engaged in a variety of trash-talk, with Rousey stating that she was "bored" while watching Tate's win over Coenen. Ultimately, Tate and Rousey headlined a Strikeforce show on March 3, 2012. This marked a then-rare occurrence of women being placed in the main event of an MMA card. The bout was televised on Showtime and introduced by Jimmy Lennon, Jr. Shortly after the fight began, Tate escaped Rousey's first armbar attempt and retaliated with strikes. After a back-and-forth session of grappling, Tate lost the title when Rousey secured a second armbar near the end of the first round, forcing her to submit. Tate was criticized by the media for risking long-term damage to her arm by resisting the armbar for several moments. Rousey later stated, "Miesha impressed me, she's a tough chick 'cause that hurts. I've had my elbow dislocated before and that's no fun. The rule in judo is even if it's dislocated if they don't tap, then keep going." Tate then faced Julie Kedzie at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman on August 18, 2012. In a striker-versus-grappler match-up, Tate endured two head-kicks and was knocked down twice. She subdued Kedzie with a fight-ending armbar in the third round.