It has been almost four years since the last time we saw Miesha Tate in a competitive setting. However she could be competing again soon, after she accepted a challenge from Bellator featherweight champ Cris Cyborg.
It was somewhat surprising when Tate announced her retirement from the sport in 2016, after losing to Raquel Pennington. She was not far removed from being the Bantamweight champion, but she decided to hang it up and follow pursuits as a mother. Although she still stayed in the sport, operating as a Vice President from Singapore-based promotion ONE Championships.
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Miesha Tate vs Cris Cyborg In Submission Underground?
Despite it being nearly four years since the last appearance of Miesha Tate in a combat sports competition, it seems that this could be changing in the relatively near future. Former UFC and current Bellator featherweight queen Cris Cyborg challenged the retired fighter to a submission grappling match. Speaking on SirusXM, Miesha accepted this challenge, looking to do it sometime next year and even offering Submission Underground as a potential place for it to go down.
“Hey you know what, I accept,” Tate said. “I would like to do it. Cris has been somebody that I kind of wish that I could have fought in my fighting career, it didn’t happen and the next best thing would be a grappling match. Look I just had a baby four months ago, so I have a lot of work to do to get back into top competitive, competition type of shape. But I’m in the gym, I’m working, I’ve begun grappling. I’ve grappled I think four times since moving back from Singapore and all that, so I will get slowly but surely. Hopefully it’s something that we can happen. If she wants to do it, I want to do it.”
“Ideally, I’d like to say for sure a year post-partum from having the baby, so that would mean another 8 months, that I would be in pretty good shape,” Tate continued. “To be honest I don’t know the details of every (grappling) promotion’s rulesets, but I like the ones that encourage you to be able to scramble and not have to worry about points so much. So I think Submission Underground. I did that one with Jessica Eye and I liked that ruleset.”
🚨 "Cris has been somebody that I wish I could've fought in my fight career." @MieshaTate accepts the challenge from @criscyborg for a grappling super fight and details how it could work. 👀@RJcliffordMMA pic.twitter.com/Uf5COGYjiD
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) October 30, 2020
Would you be interested in seeing Miesha Tate and Cris Cyborg in a grappling match? How do you see it playing out?
