Ronda Rousey Gets TUF with Tate

Rousey and Tate doing one of many stare downs.

Just a short time ago, Miesha Tate made her UFC debut against Cat Zingano fully expecting to win that fight and get a title shot against her arch rival Ronda Rousey.  The coaching job for the first season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) on the new Fox Sports 1 channel was also on the line.  Tate did not win that fight against Zingano.  However, she will get the coaching job as well as a UFC title shot.  This is my take on how it all went down, how it could have been handled, and what to expect going forward.

First things first, if you have not seen either Rousey vs Tate in Strikeforce, Rousey vs Carmouche, or Tate vs Zingano then please watch them at the links I have provided.  MMA is a pay-per view sport so it is not a simple process to find the fights, and also why I could only find 2 of the 3.  All three of these were incredible fights and a big reason why I think women in the UFC are here to stay.

Back to the matter at hand.  So after losing to Zingano, how did Tate get the nod in her place?  Obviously the knee surgery Zingano underwent had something to do with it.  But why Tate instead of another girl?  Quite simple, her name.  Like Chael Sonnen, Tate is a top level fighter who is the biggest name in the division outside of the champ.  Tate is also a tough fighter that only thinks about the champion.  Like Chael did to Silva in many of his interviews, all Tate does is call out the champ.  The casual fans do not know who Sara McMann or Alexis Davis are.  Plus other top contender Sarah Kaufman has just one split decision win since her last fight with Ronda.  The choice was simple for UFC President Dana White.  Miesha Tate is still a top level talent and will make for some seriously entertaining TV.  Unlike Chael, I feel like Tate will be an absolutely awful coach and her team will hate her.  But the rivalry aspect of Tate vs Rousey will be awesome.  It would be more comparable to Faber vs Cruz than Sonnen vs Jones as far as the coach rivalry is concerned.

As far as the title shot, does this diminish the integrity of the sport?  Again I will answer it by comparing this to Chael Sonnen's UFC 159 situation.  Chael Sonnen moved up a weight class and received an immediate title shot that may have called into question the integrity of the light heavyweight title picture.  Nick Diaz similarly received an unwarranted title shot against GSP.  Tate getting this title shot is not as ridiculous.  Sara McMann is probably the only person who can really be upset about this.  McMann is undefeated and like Rousey, is an Olympic athlete.  She was very unimpressive in her UFC debut despite the first round finish.  Sara needs a few more fights under her belt before she can take a chance at the champ.  As far as Tate's debut, she may have been stopped but she was still impressive.  The fight won Fight of the Night honors and if it had gone to the judges scorecards, she likely would have won.  Had Bigfoot not caught Overeem then Alistair would have gotten a title shot against Cain.  Similarly, Tate was one round away from a win.  Because of this, she was never far from title contention.  I think the fans and athletes can agree, Tate deserves to be in the title picture.

So what could the UFC have done instead of this?  Nothing really.  They made the right call for the good of keeping the division moving despite a top contender being injured.  At least one bantamweight division should have an active champion, because we all know Cruz and interim champion Renan Barao aren't about to fight for another year.  The UFC really could have pulled out all the stops and convinced Rousey and Cyborg to finally go at it.  But with Cyborg looking to win the Invicta FC crown against Coenen in July and Tito Ortiz being Cyborg's stubborn manager, that is next to impossible to arrange.  The other option, that I think should have happened, is that the UFC could have scrapped the idea of the two women being coaches.  Have Ronda and Tate (or Zingano) coach the next season.  I am sure there are other options for coaches that could have pulled in great ratings for Fox Sports 1.  Maybe GSP and Hendricks?  That would get my interest.  But I don't know all the work and promotion that goes into it.  Maybe the season is already under way?  In that case, Miesha is the only one that made sense.  Timelines often make us settle, but if watching Tate vs Rousey 2 is settling then I will settle all day.

We as fans should not fret nor worry about Zingano being injured.  She will be back and ready to go when she is healthy.  In the meantime we get to watch two girls who are at the top of the division put a heated rivalry forward on a brand new sports channel.  It does not get much better than that.   Whether Tate wins and we get a rubber match in the future, or Rousey rips her arm off again, it should be an enjoyable roller coaster ride.  Women's MMA is here to stay, and these two girls will be front and center.