‘125 Was An Error’

Tate details how much better she feels back at 135 leading into her UFC Austin fight against Julia Avila.

Miesha Tate steps back into the cage on Saturday night at UFC Austin, and she’s doing it at 135 pounds, where she belongs.

After a tough decision loss to Ketlen Vieira, Tate decided to try out women’s flyweight. The results were not great: coming into her fight against Julia Avila, “Cupcake” revealed the weight cut messed up her hormones and left her feeling weak. That was on display when she got outworked by Lauren Murphy in her last fight.

Now a year and four months away from that, a re-invigorated bantamweight Tate said she feels “so good.”

“I’ve been able to keep my caloric intake very high this training camp,” she told the press at UFC Austin media day. “I never had to go on a severe deficit, which is great. Making 125, I’m proud of myself. It just goes to show when I set my mind to something, I can do it. That was not easy.”

“I kind of really look at my career as a 135er and just say, ‘Look: 125 was an error,’” Tate continued. “I wouldn’t know how I would do unless I tried it. I tried it and I didn’t like it.”

She also didn’t like how people started doubting her ability to hang after a five year retirement stint.

“I’ve had one very dominant win and finish,” she declared. “And I’ve had one very close decision in my second fight back, for five rounds in a main event against a top-five-ranked fighter, after five years of not doing anything. I think if that doesn’t speak to volumes of how close I am to being one of the best in the world, then maybe people are being a bit short-sighted just looking at a piece of paper.”

“I really think that fight, my second-to-last fight, really could’ve gone either way,” she said regarding the Viera loss. “I think it was very close – very close. I’m still there. I’m still competing very closely with the best women in the division.”

Tate clearly still has title ambitions, and there’s never been a better time than now to be gunning for the women’s bantamweight title. A loss, though, would send Tate into the wilderness. Would she stick around and keep competing?

“At some point, this chapter is going to close,” Tate said regarding retirement. “I certainly think I’m much closer to the end of it than I ever have been before. But it didn’t stop with my last fight. I don’t know if it will stop with this fight. I really feel like with any fight at any point, it could be my final fight. I’m OK with that because I’ve built an emperor-worthy life where these wins and losses don’t define me any more.”