Miesha Tate says she's stuck in 'limbo,' says White's 'career killer' comment 'offensive'

Dana White, left, and Miesha Tate, center

Miesha Tate continues to voice her displeasure of the UFC’s decision to grant Holly Holm a title shot against UFC champ Ronda Rousey after she was promised the next crack at the gold.

After weeks of silence, Tate (17-5 MMA, 4-2 UFC) finally voiced her displeasure over the lost opportunity in a recent interview. She felt shot “in the heart” that after earning four consecutive victories and being publicly named the next challenger, she was not granted the bout with Rousey (12-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC).

UFC President Dana White wants Tate to “knock off a couple more people” before awarding her a third showdown with the women’s bantamweight champion. He also feels a third loss to Rousey within four years would be a “career killer.”

Tate, unsurprisingly, doesn’t agree with White’s assessment of the situation.

“I don’t care what anybody thinks. I don’t plan on losing to Ronda a third time, so it’s sort of offensive that he’s just counting me out,” Tate tonight told “UFC Tonight” on FOX Sports 1. “It bothers me a little bit, but he thinks what he thinks and I don’t know what to say. What do I say to that?”

Although the UFC has historically been hesitant to book a third contest between fighters when one side has won two fights, Tate seemingly earned her opportunity with a four-fight winning streak.

Tate’s first loss to Rousey came under the now-defunct Strikeforce banner in March 2012. She suffered the same fate in the rematch at UFC 168 in December 2013 but rebounded with victories over Jessica Eye, Sara McMann, Rin Nakai and Liz Carmouche.

The UFC on FOX 16 showdown with Eye was billed as a No. 1 contenders bout on the event’s broadcast. Despite the win, however, Tate’s championship aspirations failed to materialize.

Tate said the way in which the situation was handled by the UFC was more bothersome than Holm jumping her in line for the title fight.

“They definitely want to get that undefeated versus undefeated record (for Rousey vs. Holm),” Tate said. “I’m not going to say that from a business perspective it doesn’t make sense, but the problem I have with it is the UFC promised me a title fight in the entire lead-up to my fight with Jessica. It was a ‘title-eliminator, No. 1 contender eliminator fight.’ Even after, it was reaffirmed that I was going to get that title shot. Then finding out not from the company itself, but finding out from an announcement and waking up to text messages saying, ‘I’m so sorry this isn’t happening’ – that was a little bit harder pill to swallow than if they had called me up and said, ‘Hey, this is what makes sense at the time.'”

After her plans to fight Rousey fell through, Tate is still picking up the pieces and planning her next move. A matchup with fellow 135-pound contender Amanda Nunes has been rumored, but no bout agreement has been offered, according to Tate.

Tate’s greatest desire outside of Rousey is a matchup with Cristiane Justino, who will fight her next bout at 140 pounds. Unfortunately, “Cyborg” was announced to compete under the Invicta FC banner, where she holds the featherweight title, and Tate has little interest in jumping promotions.

As a result of that, her next move is still unclear.

“I would love to fight Cris because it would be just an amazing opportunity to step in with someone that’s as accomplished as her. I love those kinds of tough fights,” Tate said. “However, I believe her fight at 140 is going to be happening under the Invicta FC banner, and not the UFC banner. So, I think I’m correct in assuming that, and therefore I don’t plan on fighting for Invicta anytime soon. But if it was to happen in the UFC, then yeah, I’m your girl.

“The news of not getting to fight Ronda was pretty shocking and I feel like I’m in a limbo stage of what exactly is the best move for me and my career in the future. It’s something that’s going to take some time and consideration and I don’t know where I’m going to go from here, but I kind of feel like I’m in a limbo stage.”

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