Miesha Tate on Amanda Nunes’ retirement: “There was no way any of us were beating her”
In the wake of former women’s bantamweight and featherweight champion Amanda Nunes’ retirement, two of her former opponents have very different outlooks. Her most recent rival, former champion Julianna Pena, came out this week and said that the retired champion took the “easy way out” by hanging up the gloves and avoiding the trilogy. In a much different tone, former opponent and champion Miesha Tate, is happy to see Nunes retire.
Speaking to the media at the UFC Hall of Fame ceremony this week, Tate was asked about her thoughts on Nunes’ decision to call it a career, and her answer was a very straightforward one.
“There was no way any of us were beating her. So, Thank God, because now the division is wide open.”
Now that the division has a vacated belt, many top contenders believe they can jump right into the title shot conversation, including Tate, who is the 11th-ranked bantamweight, but doesn’t believe she’s far off from putting herself into contention for a title fight.
“I believe I’m one fight away, I know that probably sounds wild to some people, but, if you think about since my return, I had a really dominant finish win, and then I had a very close decision loss to a top-5 girl in Ketlen Vieira. Although I haven’t been super active, I still think with a comeback at 135 against a top quality opponent, at least my name could get dropped in the bucket, not saying I’d be picked, but I’d like to be talked about and in contention.”
It is not completely out of the question to think that if Tate can get a win over a higher-ranked opponent around the Top 5, she could be in the conversation of a title fight, but other contenders such as Pena, Raquel Pennington, and even former champion Holly Holm all have a chance to state their case sooner than later for a title fight.
