This last Saturday at UFC on Fox: Werdum vs. Browne, Miesha Tate picked up her first UFC win against Liz Carmouche following their back and forth battle. The win snapped a two fight loosing streak that Tate was on against opponents Cat Zingano and Ronda Rousey in a rematch of their Strikeforce bout.
Following the match on the UFC Post Fight Show, Tate mentioned who should would like to fight next. It was a rather intriguing list as two of the three fighters aren’t in the UFC. Regardless they’d all be good matches that should be explored:
Sarah Kaufman
Sarah Kaufman is the only one of Tate’s desired opponents that makes the most sense. Kaufman like Tate is a former Strikeforce Champion and took a more roundabout way into the UFC. They also have a history in that they met in battle before with Kaufman winning the first meeting in Strikeforce by decision.
In addition, both women have just earned wins, though Kaufman was coming off of a no contest when opponent Jessica Eye had a positive drug test. It would be interesting to see how both fighters measure up after five years.
Holly Holm
If the UFC does sign Holly Holm, this fight could make sense as a way of welcoming Holm to the promotion. Since her entrance into MMA, Holm has gone a perfect sevens wins with no losses, though most of her opponents are not of note. The match would be interesting to see if Holm could deal with an elite level grappler like Tate and would give people a general idea of where she stands in her overall fight game.
It may not seem right for Tate to be a measuring stick for how Holm would perform against Rousey but it makes sense. While her overall skill game maybe in question, no one can doubt Holm’s toughness as she went five rounds with a broken arm and won Legacy FC’s title.
Gina Carano
The topic of Gina Carano returning to MMA and against Ronda Rousey in general has been a hot topic as of late. While Rousey has expressed interesting in fighting both Carano and Holm, Tate’s desire to fight Carano may actually make more sense as a match up. Carano hasn’t fought since 2009 in which she lost to Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (then Santos) for the inaugural Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Championship.
However, just like the supposed match up with Rousey, the question of which weight class this fight would take place at comes into question as Carano had trouble making weight later in her career pre-hiatus. Time will tell if any of these match ups happen.