LAS VEGAS, NV - APRIL 20: UFC women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate interacts with media during the UFC 200 press conference at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 20, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Miesha Tate praises Kayla Harrison as UFC ready, open to a potential fight in the future
As she continues her dominant run through the Professional Fighters League, there is now an ongoing conversation about the potential of Kayla Harrison in the UFC. Harrison has dominated the women’s lightweight class at 155 pounds in the PFL but UFC President Dana White made waves last week when he pondered if Harrison is ready to make the jump to the UFC. One person who does believe Harrison is ready for the UFC is former women’s bantamweight champion, Miesha Tate.
During her weekly radio show ‘MMA Today’ on Sirius XM, Tate responded to White’s comments with some very high praise for Harrison.
🎙️ Is Kayla Harrison (@KaylaH) ready for a transition into the UFC? Could Miesha be a potential future matchup?!? 🥊
👀@MieshaTate gives her answers to @RyanMcKinnell 🔥
⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/eyjkLUSbWE
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) May 12, 2021
“Yes, she’s ready,” Tate said. “She’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist, she’s a savage. What better woman is there at 145 besides Amanda [Nunes] who is actually a 135er. I mean first of all she’s fighting at 155, she’s proved that she can make and win, at 145, that would be the division to come to. There are no better women in my opinion than Kayla Harrison at 145, her and Amanda would be a very exciting fight to watch and a fight stylisticly that’s much more interesting than any other fight at 145 for Amanda.”
If Kayla Harrison does make the leap over to the UFC within the next couple of years, Miesha Tate said that’s a fight she’d be very much interested in, and it could bring back another name into the mix, Ronda Rousey.
“Definitely in that sense too. There’s a storyline that I lost to Ronda that has a Judo style, have I figured it out, have I made those improvements? Fight with Kayla, let’s say I win, does that intrigue Ronda to try and come back and prove that she’s still the baddest? There’s actually a tie-in there with Ronda and Kayla, they’ve trained together before and I know there’s a little bit of competitiveness that is between the two of those ladies.”
While recognizing that there is certainly a size difference between the two, Miesha Tate acknowledged that she would be open to fighting at 145 pounds in the future, and if Harrison eventually joins the UFC, it’s a fight she’s interested in.
“The thing that is obviously the biggest difference is just size. If she wants to come down to 145 and she wants to be a part of the UFC, which I believe, I’m not a dumb woman, I believe that’s probably something that would be in her future, but I’m not opposed to going up a weight class. I’ve tossed around the idea of sitting fat and happy at 145. For now it’s 135, for now Kayla is over in the PFL, and I got Marion Reneau on July 17, so a lot has to unfold before we can really dissect a conversation like that.”
There has been no shortage of potential opponents when discussing Miesha Tate’s upcoming second stint in the UFC, and to hear her bring up a possible future matchup with Kayla Harrison could push the UFC to sign Harrison after her run in the PFL.
