- Miesha Tate explained why she should get a title shot if she beats Lauren Murphy
- “Cupcake” is positive about Valentina Schevchenko is beatable on the ground
Miesha Tate is set to make her debut at the flyweight division against Lauren Murphy on July 16 at UFC on ABC 3. Heading into the fight “Cupcake” is already thinking about becoming the next title contender.
It only takes one win
Reigning women’s flyweight champion Valentina Schevchenko has already expressed her desire to take on Tate. Apparently, the feeling is mutual.
Tate suggests that her caliber as a UFC fighter already speaks for itself and according to the former women’s bantamweight title contender, a win over Murphy should cement it.
“Yes, if not me then who else?” Tate told MMA Junkie. “If I go out and beat Lauren the way that I intend to – I don’t want to jinx myself so I’m not going to say it, but just watch on the 16th, and granted I do what I feel like I’m gonna do, I’m gonna go out there and I’m gonna win, she’s going to be saying my name a lot more often because if not me, who else?
“Beating Lauren Murphy is a great feather in my cap and, yeah, I’m a former world champion, and I’m not here forever. Let’s get this show on the road. I want to fight the best. I want to fight Valentina. Lauren is a tough, gritty fighter, she’s ranked inside the top five, so it’ll be a great win for me. It’ll put me right in that spot, and Valentina’s done a beautiful job of clearing out everybody else, so the division is really wide open.”
Tate is confident about facing the champ
Tate was one of the people who believe Taila Santos got the better of Schevchenko at UFC 275. For “Cupcake,” the Brazilian was able to expose the champ by dominating her on the ground.
Should everything plays out according to how her plans, Tate is also thinking about relying on her grappling to beat Schevchenko.
“I had that confidence before,” the 35-year-old added. “It doesn’t really change anything for me except now the rest of the world can see what I was thinking the whole time, which is kind of annoying to be honest, because I really wanted to be the first one to do it, so I’m not thrilled, but yeah, it doesn’t change anything. I still feel exactly the same as I felt about Valentina. I knew that. I already knew it. I knew it watching [Julianna Peña] fight her. I know that Juli got caught in a submission. You can’t underestimate Valentina’s grappling game.”
“She definitely has one. She’s got some slick submissions, and she’s no slouch on the ground, but I said it’s going to take somebody who can wrestle a little bit because we’ve already seen what happens when people try to strike, but I think people were quick to forget that Jennifer Maia held her down for a round. I was like, ‘Oh, noted.’ I remember thinking that back then and then Juli had some success taking her down. It’s not impossible, especially for my style. I have the style to do it.”
When Tate faces Murphy, it would be exactly one year since her last victory. Let’s see if “Cupcake” is still the fighter she claims to be when she finally enters the octagon.
