Miesha Tate thinks Ronda Rousey is still bitter about her MMA career ending: "That’s just kind of sad, you know?"
Ronda Rousey is among the most popular mixed martial artists of all time, and one of the most successful women's fighters ever to step into the octagon, defending the women's bantamweight title six times. While she found tremendous success in the UFC, she has largely stayed away from the promotion since her last bout, which took place at UFC 207 back in 2016.
Miesha Tate, who faced 'Rowdy' both in the UFC and Strikeforce, believes her former opponent is bitter by the way her career ended. Speaking to Ryan McKinnell of MMA on SiriusXM, the No. 9-ranked women's bantamweight said:
"It certainly seems like she's holding on to the resentment, the frustration, the anger and allowing it to dictate her next move. I personally do not think that the MMA community, in large part, ever turned their back on Ronda... She forgot that there were hundreds of thousands of little girls around the world that were still idolizing her. They didn't care if she won or she lost. They thought she was amazing either way... I think she's still really hurt by it, but I think she's still very focused on self, instead of self-growth."
Tate added:
"Nobody gets away unscathed in this life, much less if your life is put on a magnitude scale where everybody gets to witness your rise, but they witness your fall, but this happens to every champion. This is not a Ronda Rousey versus the world situation. When you are great, sometimes people just want to see greatness fall, but that's not the majority. Most people are healthy individuals living their life and they were wanting her to continue her success and they enjoyed it and those people were forgotten about and that's just kind of sad, you know?"
Check out Miesha Tate's full comments on Ronda Rousey below:
Rousey defeated Tate via first-round submission to capture the Strikeforce women's bantamweight title when the two clashed at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey in 2012. The two later clashed at UFC 168 the following year, with 'Rowdy' defending her women's bantamweight title via third-round submission.
Ronda Rousey reveals why she does not attend UFC events
Ronda Rousey is among the most popular fighters of all time, however, she has largely stayed away from the UFC since leaving the promotion in 2016. The UFC Hall of Famer recently discussed that decision while speaking with Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes of the High Performance podcast. When asked about her comment that the mixed martial arts world hates her, she responded:
"Ask the MMA media that. They're the ones saying it... That I was a fraud and I was hype and I was exposed and I was never anything and just lucky and all of these things. That I wasn't gracious or a good loser, or every other thing that I just assume at this point because I don’t take the time to read it."
Rousey continued:
"Everything that could be said that was negative was said, and I feel really vilified by MMA media at this point and I'm not really welcome back, which is why I haven’t gone to a UFC fight since because I’m pretty sure if I walked into the arena, I’d be booed. Yeah, that’s how it feels."
Check out Ronda Rousey's comments on her refusal to attend UFC events below (53:40):
Rousey noted that she wished it didn't bother her but noted that she gave everything she had, and it wasn't enough for the MMA community. She claimed that many fighters don't give everything they have since, either way, it will not be enough for the fans.