Miesha Tate: Grappling Cris Cyborg ‘would be amazing,’ open to MMA return

Since retiring from MMA in 2016, former UFC and Strikeforce champ Miesha Tate has become a mother of two and a Vice President for ONE Championship.

After a brief period of living over in Singapore where ONE is based, Tate recently came back home to Washington state for the holidays. As she gets to spend some time with her family, Tate is then planning to relocate to Las Vegas where she spent the majority of her fight career.

Regarding the possibility of fighting again, the now 34-year old former bantamweight legend has admitted to never closing the door on any opportunities. Especially one related to the sport that made her famous.

However, it’s not something she’s currently planning to pursue despite getting back in the gym. With six fights remaining on her frozen UFC contract, “Cupcake” broke down the status of her professional athletic possibilities and one thing that really has her excited — a showdown with the all-time great, Cris “Cyborg” Justino.

“If I wanted to fight, which I’m not, I wouldn’t be able to fight anywhere else [but the UFC],” Tate told Fanatics View. “So you wouldn’t see me pop up and fight for ONE Championship or anybody else because obviously, I can’t legally do that. I would like to grapple. And you know, Cyborg did call me out for a grappling match. That would excite me.

“It would be amazing. I think if we want to make it happen we definitely have to figure out the legalities of it. Because my fight contract is owned by the UFC, right? She fights for Bellator, and I work for and represent ONE Championship.”

For Tate, her career ended rather unexpectedly in the eyes of the fans when she walked away after a loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205. The defeat put the former champion on only the second losing streak of her career.

“Right now I’m just focused on having fun,” Tate expressed. “This is something I wasn’t able to do in the latter part of my career. The last couple years of my career were really strenuous and a lot of that had to do with my personal life. I wasn’t having fun, I was exhausted, to be honest. Mentally exhausted before I even got to the fights. Some I was able to really bring it, some I wasn’t. But I want to compete again, I want to grapple, and I want to get in great shape and have fun. And that’s what I’m doing.”

We may not have ever gotten to see Cris Cyborg vs. Miesha Tate in MMA… but perhaps we could see it take place on the mats.

on 12/17/2020.