Former bantamweight champ Miesha Tate recently made comments about being broke shortly after her return fight at UFC Vegas 31. Now she clears up these comments, and better explains the situation.
Fans were beyond excited to see the return of Tate, after she decided to make a comeback from her five-year retirement. She looked great too, completely dominating Marion Reneau en route to a third round TKO.
Shortly after the fight, Miesha came out and said that she already used the majority of the money that she made from this fight. Speaking with Ariel Helwani, she clarified that the $200k fight purse was reinvested into her training camp, and buying new equipment for her return, while making it clear that she was not complaining about her purse.
“To be fair, a lot of them were first time purchases that will be benefit me, because I hadn’t fought in five years. You invest in new running shoes, you invest in a new bike, you invest in a heart rate monitor, whatever, all these kinds of things,” Tate said.
“My camp was very expensive, but the results were great and I’m going to keep on that trend. I would spend every last penny to touch that belt again. I would spend it all. I’m not complaining about what the UFC pays me. The UFC paid me $200,000. I wouldn’t get that anywhere else, I don’t think.
“Look, I got $200,000 to spend on my camp. I reinvested it in myself, almost all of it. It wasn’t a bad choice. I’m not broke. I own my house free and clear. I own my cars free and clear. I have a great life. I know I’ll make hand over fist when I’m the champion again. That’s the ultimate goal,” Tate added.
Miesha Tate Can Fight Holly Holm Anytime
Following her successful return, fans were clamoring to see Miesha Tate face Holly Holm, in a rematch of their bantamweight title fight in 2016. Instead, reports seem to indicate that she will fight Ketlen Vieira instead.
When asked why this was the case, Miesha said that a fight with Holly can happen any time, because the story is there. Instead she wanted to take a proper next step in the rankings, by taking on the seventh ranked Vieira instead.
“It wasn’t Holly for the reason that, I feel like that’s a golden egg fight. That’s a fight that we can do at any time, any point. It will never die. It’s like (Nate) Diaz vs Conor (McGregor) 3. It’s kinda available and there,” Tate explained.
“So I wanted my next fight to be a proper climb in the rankings. I don’t want to come in and insult the division. I don’t want to come in and say ‘Oh I should be fighting the top one or two,’ and Holly is ranked number two. It is a fight I want at some point, because I know I can do it better.
“Personally, I wanted the winner of Ketlen Vieira and Sara McMann, but with Sara getting injured and out of that, obviously Ketlen is left without. Holly has a fight already, and yeah I think everyone is either injured, fighting, pregnant, or just had a baby,” Tate said.
How do you think Miesha Tate will do against Ketlen Vieira? Do you have any interest in seeing a rematch between her and Holly Holm?
