Miesha Tate has doubled down on her belief that Jim West’s corner work for Aspen Ladd at UFC Vegas 40 was abusive.
West is not only Ladd’s cornerman, but he’s also her boyfriend. Ladd was seen in action against Norma Dumont in a women’s featherweight clash. West was very honest with Ladd between rounds about her losing the fight and even yelled at her to try to light a fire. Ultimately, Ladd fell short against Dumont, losing via unanimous decision.
West apologized for being “harsh” on fight night but Tate was the one who took a lot of flak online. That’s because the former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion claimed West was being abusive. Many took it as if Tate was trying to coddle female fighters and claimed that if a male fighter was getting a tongue-lashing, no one would pay it any mind.
Miesha Tate Responds To Her Critics
During an episode of The Throwing Down podcast, Tate said that the criticism hurled towards her is misguided.
“This isn’t so much a male-female thing. People are making this out to be like, ‘Oh what? So should we coddle females?’ It’s not about that. It’s a relationship thing and I believe that he came in there and did not do her any service. He didn’t help her.”
A Familiar Situation?
Miesha Tate once dated her cornerman, Bryan Caraway, as well and she believes Ladd is in a similar situation that she was once in.
“People gave Jim West a lot of credit for being able to motivate her on her last fight when she beat Yana Kunitskaya. That he came out very strong in the third round, told her she had to get after it. Okay, but listen to me carefully because there is an argument to be made that maybe she wouldn’t be starting these fights as slow if there wasn’t some things going on otherwise.”
Tate and West have had a personal grudge as of late. “Cupcake” accused Ladd of trying to cheat on the scale when she missed weight for her canceled bout with Macy Chiasson. West called Tate a “coward” for making the accusation.
"What I saw in that corner, I saw myself, and it broke my heart in a way."@MieshaTate explains her criticism of Aspen Ladd's corner at #UFCVegas40 with @ReneePaquette
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