Even before the main event occurred, UFC 205 had a bombshell announcement that dropped during the show. Former champion Miesha Tate decided to call it quits after her loss to Raquel Pennington.
Tate has a professional mixed martial arts career of 25 fights, with an 18-7 record.
Tate announced her retirement after the fight in a post-match interview with Joe Rogan. Seemingly, with the losses piling up, the 30-year-old realized that it is just not her time anymore.
“I’m announcing my retirement. I love y’all so much. I’ve been doing this for over a decade. Thank you so much for being here. I love this sport forever, but, it’s not my time anymore. It’s the future’s time.
Tate admitted that losing against Pennington was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back regarding her future as an MMA fighter, and it was time for her to go. She also admitted that she just could not pull out of herself what she wanted to, and taking a lot of punishment for over a decade has finally taken a toll on her.
After spending time competing for promotions such as Freestyle Cage Fighting and CageSport MMA, her popularity gave her a spot on the Strikeforce roster. On March 3, 2012, Tate started her rivalry against Ronda Rousey at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, losing her Women’s Bantamweight Championship in the first round.
The two would meet again in December of 2013. This time, for the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title at UFC 168. Again, she would suffer a loss against Rousey.
The loss to Rousey actually sparked her career in a positive direction, as she then went on to win five straight fights, also defeating Holly Holm to win the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Title along the way. However, she would meet her match at UFC 200, losing the title to Amanda Nunes.
While it will be interesting to see whether Tate will completely remove herself from entertainment, she can leave knowing that she was one of the most instrumental people in making women’s fighting interesting to watch in the UFC over the past few years.
She has shown that she is just an all-around caring person, after stories broke of her saving the life of Chris Caraway, mother of her boyfriend and fellow UFC fighter Bryan Caraway. She also was credited for rescuing a six-year-old girl who suffered a broken arm while hiking.
Fans of MMA everywhere are incredibly thankful of Tate’s contribution to the sport.
