At UFC 205, Miesha Tate stepped into the Octagon with Raquel Pennington, in a bid to rebound from her loss of the UFC women’s Bantamweight title. Despite odds for a win stacked in her favour, a lacklustre Tate was bulldozed from start to finish. Pennington went on to win the fight on a unanimous decision.
However, Tate surprised everyone, moments after her loss, announcing her retirement from the sport. Usually, when a fighter decides it is time to call it quits, he or she is met with praise for bravely acknowledging the fighting spirit within them has burnt out.
While Tate’s retirement was met primarily with well-wishes and pats on the back, not everyone had a rosy take on her decision.
The MMA fan favourite, ‘Cupcake’ is hoping to secure a broadcasting role with FOX, but Bethe Correia, Former Woman’s Bantamweight Title Contender, who recently called for a bout with Tate, believes the former’s retirement speaks of her frail mentality.
Correia explained this opinion in a recent Q&A with fans (via MMA Fighting).
“She showed she’s bipolar because when the UFC didn’t want her fighting for the belt, she wanted to retire. She lost to Raquel and got herself in a bad phase, lost to Amanda, and announced her retirement. When you’re not going the way you want and you run away from it, that shows weakness.”
Drawing from her own setbacks, ‘Pitbull’ Correia said she was motivated to get better and not give up.
“I’ve been through a lot of tough moments in the UFC and never wanted to retire. Quite the opposite. My fight against Ronda left a damage, and I want to fight more, win more, to have experience, in order to have Rousey vs. Correia 2, maybe here in Sao Paulo, so it can be very different, and leave with my head up.”
The criticism for Tate’s isn’t surprising, though, considering the online rivalry between the two talented ladies, and ‘Pitbull’ explained her desire to lock horns with the WMMA great.
“My history with Miesha Tate is very old,” she explained.
“First, she called me out as an athlete on social media, and also said a lot of bad things about my personal life, demoralised me as an athlete, and I wanted to fight her, but our paths went different directions. I even said I’d fight her for free, in any card, in her backyard,” she said.
“I still have the things she said about me stuck in my throat, especially about my loss to Ronda. She said some bad things, but in the end, I saw that her attitude, announcing her retirement, that I’m way above her,” she added.
‘Cupcake’ calls it quits at just 30 years old – which leaves the door open for a potential transition somewhere down the road.
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