Miesha Tate is embarking on a new role with ONE Championship.
Tate, who was hired as ONE Championship vice president in November 2018, relocated to Singapore shortly after with the intention of staying for at least two years before reassessing the situation.
But after the global coronavirus pandemic hit, Tate’s plans changed. The former UFC women’s bantamweight champ recently decided to move back to the U.S. to focus on U.S. based athletes led by ONE flyweight grand prix champion and former UFC flyweight champ Demetrious Johnson.
“My goal was to be there (in Singapore) for two years, but COVID kinda just messed everything up as it did for everybody,” Tate, now a mother of two, told MMA Junkie Radio. “I know I’m not the only one in that, so when Singapore locked down, I just got kinda depressed. And it was really lonely because I couldn’t have any family, no friends, nobody to come visit, and you just realize how small it is. I’m from Washington, which is where I’m at right now, staying with my parents through the holidays until I’ll be back in Vegas probably around January.”
At the beginning of the year, ONE CEO Chatri Sityodtong discussed the promotion’s plans of making it’s U.S. debut in 2020. But after the global pandemic hit, plans were delayed. Tate hopes that by moving back home, she can aid ONE in its goal of breaking ground in the U.S.
“I think what we’re gonna gear more towards is me working more with our U.S. athletes like Demetrious Johnson,” Tate said. “He’s in Washington state, as well, so I wanna get together with him and film more content, pick his brain, create more media, and then of course still promoting the events and anything I can do with my connections to help further the roots that ONE Championship is still trying to lay, because eventually we still wanna come to the U.S. It’s just COVID (ruining things).”
How Miesha Tate’s VP duties with ONE Championship have shifted because of COVID-19