Former women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate (19-9) returns to the 135-pound division this weekend at UFC Austin. She takes on Julia Avila (9-2) in the featured fight on the preliminary card.
Tate enters the fight with Avila coming off back-to-back losses. She’s never lost three fights in a row in her career and is confident that she won’t on Saturday.
Tate said she’s ‘very confident’ heading into the fight with Avila and her previous move to flyweight was ‘an experiment.’
“125 was an experiment. I know that on my record it says, yes, I lost that fight, and I did lose that fight but it was an experiment and it wasn’t the right decision for me, so I really kind of look at my career as 135er and just say, look, 125 was an error. I wouldn’t know how I’d do there unless I tried it, and I did it. I didn’t like it, so back to 135. Since my return I’ve had one very dominate win and finish, and I had one very close decision in my second fight back for five rounds in a main event against a Top 5 fighter after five years of not doing anything.
“If that doesn’t speak volumes to how close I am to still being one of the best in the world than maybe people are being a bit short-sighted and just looking at a piece of paper. I really think that that fight, my second to last fight, could have gone either way. I think it was very close, very close, so I’m still there. I’m still competing very closely with the best women in the division,” Tate said during the UFC Austin Media Day.
One advantage Tate has over Avila is her experience, especially her experience in high profile fights. She’s fought in three UFC title bouts and two Strikeforce championship fights.
“One of my biggest advantages in this fight is that there aren’t many cards in the deck that I haven’t seen as a veteran. So, yes, there is a skillset across the board that you could measure out and say, ‘oh, she should be better in this area. She should be better in that,’ but really the unpredictability is something that people don’t anyways take into account,” said Tate.
“I’ve seen a lot. I’ve been in there a lot. I’ve experienced a lot, and I think I have to be prepared for anything against Julia Avila because she hasn’t fought in so long. I know when I came back after a five-year layoff I felt like a completely different fighter. I really fell in love with my striking and I was doing much better than I had in my entire career with my hands. It’s been awhile since she’s fought. She had a baby. She might come into this fight with an entirely different stance. She may come out a southpaw. I don’t know. It’s been awhile,” Tate said.
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“I guess my point is that I’m very flexible in my fight IQ, being able to change things on the fly. I do think that I have an advantage in the wrestling. I surely think in the grappling as well, and I think on the feet we’re probably pretty even. I think we can trade and we can both take punches and we’re both aggressive on the feet.”
At 37-years old, Tate is in the twilight of her career, but she’s not ready to quit fighting before the time is right.
“My goal is not to give up on myself, or quit on myself before the time for change is actually here. A lot of people will look at my record and say, ‘she lost her last two and she should retire.’ I hear these words and I want to throw it out there for anybody never to quit on themselves based on what other people say, and never too early. really give it your all,” said Tate.
“At some point this chapter’s going to close, and I certainly think that I’m much closer to the end of it than I ever have been before. it didn’t stop with my last fight. I don’t know if it’ll stop after this fight. I really feel like any fight at any point could be my final fight, and I’m okay with that because I built an emperor worthy life. Wins and losses don’t define me anymore.”
https://www.mmaweekly.com/news/miesha-tate-i-really-feel-like-any-fight-could-be-my-final-fight
