Silence is golden, speech is silver

In a recent interview with SiriusXM Fight Club UFC Women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate didn’t mince words when it came to her opinion of Ronda Rousey’s mental health and recent run in with Paige Vanzant.

“I think Ronda is somewhat emotionally unstable and I think that’s been characteristic for a long time. Doesn’t mean she fights any worse for it. I’m not knocking her as an athlete but emotionally she’s just got some things that are a little bit strange and I think that that was one of them.”

“I feel like you can tell a lot about a person who, if they’re nice to people that they don’t have to be nice to or if they’re not nice to people that they don’t have to be nice to, and I feel like things that sometimes people don’t see on the massive media outlets is the way Ronda is behind scenes.

This is just one example. This is a big reason why Ronda and I don’t get along. It’s not even the career, it’s the difference in our personal perspectives. That’s why we have the rivalry. We just happen to also be in the same profession and fighting in the same weight class and that’s what people are really interested in but truly this is where I disagree with Ronda the most.

This is why I feel like I identify with Paige more. She’s so kind and when this whole thing happened she was like, ‘we’re emotional beings and hopefully I can make it right with Ronda” and she’s still such a sweetheart but I’m not that way….

When Ronda does things like that to me I’m just like, ‘No, eff you.’ I’m not gonna bow down and not say how I feel.”

As most MMA conversation’s do, the topic of conversation inevitably turned to Conor McGregor and his recent civil war with Dana White and the UFC organization. Miesha Tate, although thoughtful and polite, gave a candid breakdown of how she saw the situation. According to the UFC vet, Conor has been given all the special treatment a fighter could need, and still wants more.

“He has done amazing things for our sport and he’s a huge piece in all of this, he really is. He’s a star. He’s a great fighter, he’s a great talker, he’s hilarious, he sells cards well. Nobody can refute that.

But when you say, ‘someone deserves a break or special treatment,’ I don’t disagree with that. My point is he already gets that. A lot. They wanted to fly him out three months before UFC 200 in a private jet where he could have up to twenty people come with him. No one else gets that. Nobody else. That is preferential treatment. That is special.

He can bring his entire camp with him and work out on the plane if he wants to because it’s his plane! It’s private. He gets here and he gets a huge penthouse suite, he gets put up in a house, he gets a butler, he gets whatever he wants. The UFC will accommodate him in any way that they can because he is special. And that’s cool. I don’t mind that but then what’s your excuse? You’re already getting preferential [treatment], you’re already getting all these great things that nobody else gets.”

While it’s great to see Miesha Tate finally come out of her shell and being vocal in the dog eat dog world of the UFC, is she setting herself up for a fall here? After all she barely squeaked out a win in fight she was most probably going to lose if not for last minute heroics. Is this new found confidence a result of the belt, or is the belt a result of the new found confidence. Who knows,  but we’ll be sure to find out more in her upcoming UFC 200 co-main event bout against #1 contender Amanda Nunes. Stay tuned.