Miesha Tate discusses retirement, recent win at Submission Underground

2016 has been quite the year for WMMA pioneer Miesha Tate. Tate kicked off 2016 by fighting Holly Holm for the UFC women’s bantamweight championship at UFC 196 in March. With the fight looking as though it was going to the judges scorecards midway through the fifth round, Tate secured a submission win to earn the women’s bantamweight championship. In her next fight, Tate put her title on the line in the main event of one of the biggest cards in the history of the UFC at UFC 200, where she fought Amanda Nunes. Unfortunately for Tate, she was rocked and then submitted in the first round by Nunes.

‘Cupcake’ looked to bounce back and return to the win column at UFC 205 last month, however she ultimately dropped a unanimous decision to Raquel Pennington, and subsequently announced her retirement during her post-fight Octagon interview. While some, including Cris Cyborg, believed that the decision wouldn’t last, Tate revealed in a recent interview following her Submission Underground 2 win over Jessica Eye that she is content with her retirement.

She spoke to Champions.co:

“It was a lot of fun to get back out there and compete. I still have a competitive streak in myself, and I was having fun. That’s what it’s about. That’s what mixed martial arts is to me – it’s about having fun. The whole time I was here, and warming up – it was all of the fun and none of the pressure. …

“I’m just having fun right now. I’m here, I got to enjoy a night of grappling, I got to do what I love with the jiu-jitsu, and I still have a competitive edge to myself. But I’m just here having fun.”

In her retirement speech, Tate explained that she simply doesn’t have the desire to compete in MMA anymore, however her recent win at Submission Underground 2 certainly indicates that Tate has the skills to compete with the best.