Cris Cyborg confident Miesha Tate will not retire

Back at UFC 205, former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate suffered a unanimous decision loss to Raquel Pennington on the main card of the historic event. For Tate, the loss made it two in a row following her UFC 200 loss to Amanda Nunes, where she lost the women’s bantamweight championship in the very first round after being rocked and then submitted with a rear naked choke.

Following the loss against Pennington at UFC 205, Tate was quick to announce her retirement from the sport during her post-fight Octagon interview, saying:

“I’m announcing my retirement you guys, I love you 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.”

While many speculated as to whether or not the decision was a rash one given that Tate had just lost, the former champ has stuck to her decision, revealing this week that she would still be competing in competitive JiuJitsu, and could even find herself with an analyst deal with Fox Sports.

Despite that, Invicta FC featherweight champion Cris Cyborg believes that Tate will return to the Octagon given that fact that she is still very young. She spoke to Submission Radio:

“I don’t think she’s gonna retire. I think at the time that she lost the fight, I think she felt emotions, and I think it’s the second fight in a row she lost. I think the last fight (against Amanda Nunes), I think she had a hard time and I think she needs a break. I think she wasn’t mentally good in this fight and I think she just got emotional and said she wanted to retire. I don’t think she’s gonna retire. She’s a young girl, she’s done a lot of things for sport. I really think she just get emotional after the fight.”

Since Cyborg made her UFC debut earlier this year, there have been talks of a potential superfight between Cyborg and Tate, which of course would no longer be a possibility with Tate’s retirement. In regards to that situation, Cyborg stated:

“I never chose my opponent. You know, I’m always ready for a fight. After my last fight, I really had a hard cut to 140. I really don’t think I’m gonna cut again to 140 too soon and we’ll look to stay in my division of 145. But I never choose my opponents. I’m open to do a super fight, but let’s see if it would be good for me, of course.”