In case you’ve been living under a rock, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate have a Strikeforce title fight coming up in a little less than two weeks’ time. The tension between these two women is positively supercharged, and has led to some of the best pre-fight trash talk in MMA history. If the hype and media build-up surrounding their March 3 bout could be measured in monetary units, the United States national debt could be reduced to a zero balance, with a little spare change left over to place a wager on their fight.
Now, there is a new beef between these lovely ladies, and it all stems from comments made by Tate, regarding Rousey’s Olympic accolades.
In a recent TapouT Radio interview, Rousey spit hot fire and molten lava in Miesha’s direction, and gave a current chronicling of a variety of hot button topics.
Here’s what “Rowdy” had to say about:
Her Weight
“I’m at 141.8 right now. I’m a professional, and I want to have a better cut than Miesha does, because I want to beat the girl into the ground. I know that in her mind, she thinks my weight cut is going to be a disadvantage to me, and I want her to know that my weight cut is going great, and she’s in for some big trouble. I want her to know that I’m fully hydrated and ready to roll, the day of the weigh-ins. I’m lifting the same amount of weight now, in late training, as I was when I was heavier, so I’m maintaining the same amount of strength, and I’m training at this lighter weight, so I’m much faster now. I think I’m going to be much more accustomed to being at a lighter weight than she is.”
The Tate Turnaround
“If you compare the original interview that we did with Ariel Helwani, with the round table we did with Scott Coker, she pretty much has abandoned every single stance that she had from the very beginning, and has adopted every point that I made. She kind of just knew that she was wrong, never admitted it, and slowly started to concede to every point that I made, with every interview over the last couple months. She doesn’t really have a solid personality or a solid stance. She’s just kind of like bland and blah, and doesn’t know how to stick to her guns or answer anything in a consistent way.”
Miesha Riding On Her Coattails
“No [I don't think she is], but I am trying to push her along. I don’t think she’s riding off of them, and I’m trying my best to not just push my name, but to push hers, as well. Her being a higher profile makes our fight a higher profile. I do want her to benefit from this as well, because the more notoriety she gets with this fight leading up to it, the more of a big deal the fight will be, and the more I’ll gain after I win.”
Behind the Scenes Beef
“She brought up that my Olympic medal is a fraud, and that I really got fourth place. I just thought, ‘What kind of an ungrateful little POS are you? I won the Olympic medal for YOUR country, and you’re questioning the validity of the Olympic medal that I got for your country, just to make yourself feel a little bit better.’ I mean, that’s just not even American. Anyone that would even say that, they have no idea how the judo bracket system works. It’s just wrong, and the whole idea that she would even bring that up, I’m just like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ That really bothered me. I mean, I know that my medal is valid, and I worked my ass off for it. She’s just completely wrong, but the whole idea that she would try to defame one of her own country’s Olympic medals is so tactless. It was un-American and an anti-patriot thing to do. It showed me how much of a selfish girl she is.”
Trash Talk
“Miesha plays it extremely safe with a lot of things she says. A lot of her attempts at trash talking and comebacks are just lame and not witty, and there’s not much of a reaction out of it. She doesn’t take any risks in the things that she talks about. The way that she says things, she doesn’t have that great of a vocabulary, and she’s not really that quick witted. She needs me to supply the trash talk, because she doesn’t really come up with anything original on her own.”
Comparisons to Chael Sonnen
“I do enjoy it, because I think that he’s really smart and really witty. I pick and choose some of his tactics from him. I don’t do it exactly the way he does, but I take it as a compliment that people would make the comparison. I try to pick and choose from a couple different fighters (as influences), how I represent myself. A lot of the way that I pull my banter out is from his (Sonnen) example. I can see how people would see a relationship between the two of us, regarding how we go about hyping fights.”
Ring Girl Nudity and Exposure
“With all these ring girls and their vaginas, Miesha in her thong – all of this goes back to advice my mom gave me. She gave me this one piece of advice, which I still keep dear. She’s like, ‘Look, whatever pictures you put out there are gonna be out there forever, so just think that one day your 12 or 13-year-old son or daughter is going to see those pictures. Whatever you want your son or daughter, or even your 13-year-old little sister to see, keep that in mind.’ So, whatever I’m not gonna show on a beach, I’m not gonna show in a magazine. These girls are going to have to explain to their kids one day why mommy’s ass and vagina are all over.”
Phone Call from Dana White
“He called me. I was sitting on my roommate’s bed, complaining about how hungry I was. My phone rang, and I was like, ‘Las Vegas?’ I picked up, and this voice goes, ‘Ronda, this is Dana White. How are you?’ I’m like, ‘FINE!’ I mean, what do you say there? He told me he was very, very excited about this fight, and that he was going to do whatever he can to promote it, that he’s gonna be there at the fight, I think. I hope he doesn’t get mad at me for saying this. I don’t think he should. He’s super stoked. It’s so encouraging to see somebody like him starting to see the potential in women’s MMA. I think there’s still a lot more work to do, and I think he does have some points, in that we need to develop more depth, but it is coming.”
Whether a fan of women’s MMA or not, one can appreciate the energy and buzz that this fight has generated within the fabric of the MMA matrix. Strikeforce has managed to bottle lightning, and on March 3 they will uncork that bottle when Ronda and Miesha finally meet in the cage. If you don’t currently subscribe to Showtime, I highly recommend you remedy that, because this is one fight you don’t want to miss.
Source: Rousey Planning on Pounding ‘Un-American, Selfish Girl’ Tate Into the Ground
