Miesha Tate has spoken openly about all the attention her arch rival, Rhonda Rousy, gets in the world of sports due to her bankable looks and film roles, but now another UFC fighter says Tate just wants attention, herself.
Bethe Correia says that now that Tate has gone up against Rousey twice, she’s calling upon her for a future fight because she knows it will garner headlines.
“I don’t know why she put herself into this story. I think she saw all the attention I was receiving. Tate had two chances against Ronda and lost both twice. She saw that I’m closer to a title shot, so she wants to use that attention,” Correia said at a press conference this week.
Correia doesn’t doubt Tate’s abilities, but says it’s a mistake to challenge someone to a stand-up fight when you’re trained in wrestling form.
“Tate does have good grappling, but she challenged me to a stand-up war. I hope she doesn’t run away…I won’t run away from the ground because I train a lot of jiu-jitsu and judo, and I believe in my skills, but I love to put my hand on someone’s face, especially when someone challenges me. Tell her to find a better mouthpiece. I hope she comes here to brawl,” she said.
Tate has been outspoken in the past about the attention her fellow fighters receive, particularly Rousey. After UFC President Dana White announced he was planning a comeback match for Gina Carano with Rousey, Tate said it only made sense because the two women were attractive.
“The only thing that drives that is they’re both attractive. It makes the women’s title hold no value. It makes it look like it’s a joke and they just put whatever’s going to sell. If we’re going to really legitimize women’s MMA as a sport and have it respected as a sport, then you have to treat it as such….women’s MMA has been working to legitimize ourselves for so long, and we finally broke the ice, we’re finally in the UFC, and we’re getting some credibility. Don’t take that away by putting a fight together that is based entirely on looks and has little to nothing to do with skill set,” Tate said.