LAS VEGAS – Miesha Tate sees new life for her and the rest of the bantamweight division now that Amanda Nunes is retired.
Former dual champion Nunes hung up her gloves after retaining her bantamweight title against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 in June. Nunes started her 135-pound title reign by running through Tate for a first-round submission at UFC 200.
Since then, “The Lioness” finished Ronda Rousey, Raquel Pennington, Cris Cyborg, Holly Holm and Megan Anderson in title fights – and racked up numerous other wins, as well. But now that Nunes has retired and the bantamweight belt is vacant, Tate (19-9 MMA, 6-6 UFC) sees herself close to the title picture.
“There was no way any of us were beating her, so thank God,” Tate told MMA Junkie and other reporters Thursday on the UFC Hall of Fame red carpet. “Because now the division is wide open, and I believe I’m one fight away (from a title shot). I know that probably sounds wild. Some people are like, ‘Wait a minute.’
“But if you think about it, since my return, I had a really dominant finish win, and then I had a very close decision loss to a top-five girl in Ketlen Vieira. So although I haven’t been super active, I still think with a bang of a comeback at 135 against a top-quality opponent, at least my name could be dropped in the bucket. I’m not saying that I would be picked for sure, but I’d like to at least be talked about in being in contention.”
Tate is 1-1 at bantamweight since she came out of retirement. After losing a unanimous decision to Lauren Murphy in her flyweight debut in July 2022, she decided to move back up to 135 pounds. Tate was booked to face Mayra Bueno Silva in next Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 49 headliner, but a hand injury forced her out and she was replaced by Holm.
Tate currently is rehabbing her hand and is targeting a return in October. She sees two potential opponents that make sense for her next.
“There’s a couple of names that have come to my mind like Irene Aldana because she’s just hot off the press. She just fought for the title, so I feel like that would be a great fight for me,” Tate said. “I also think Yana Kunitskaya – we’re kind of in that similar boat right now, but it was a very close fight her last fight (vs. Karol Rosa), and she went up a weight. So I was still very impressed with her.”
