Miesha Tate hoping 'good girl' Amanda Nunes beats Ronda Rousey at UFC 207

Miesha Tate may have decided to hang up the gloves, announcing her retirement following her loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 207, but not every grudge died when she stepped away from active competition.

Tate (18-7 MMA, 5-4 UFC) had two battles and a deep – though one-sided – rivalry with former queen of the bantamweight division, Ronda Rousey (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC). Rousey won both of their fights by submission but took considerable time away from the octagon after a stunning knockout loss to Holly Holm. Tate captured the title from Holm and suffered back-to-back losses, spurring her decision to retire.

Rousey returns to action at UFC 207 to challenge for the title it once seemed she would never lose. She will face champion Amanda Nunes (13-4 MMA, 6-1 UFC) in the featured bout of the event, which takes place  Dec. 30 (a Friday) at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Tate spoke to MMAjunkie while appearing as a guest fighter during UFC Fight Night 101 fight week and gave her opinion on the upcoming bout, and said the fight centers on questions of Rousey’s mental focus.

“I guess what’s really difficult for me to decide is what we’re going to get out of Rousey,” Tate said. “Is she doing it because she wants to or is she doing it before she feels obligated? Is that knockout going to be in the back of her mind? Is she going to be punch shy? It’s kind of like – I remember when I went skiing for the first time, I was like 5 years old and I just blitzed down the hill. I had no fear. The first time that I wrecked really, really hard is when I realized this is actually dangerous … so you kind of wonder what has that put in the back of her mind?”

While it appears Tate and Rousey will never have a third go-round in the cage, Tate still had no hesitation expressing a desire for the former champ to come up short in her bid to reclaim the belt.

“I know that Amanda is a very solid fighter and she hits like a ton of bricks,” Tate said. “She’s a very worthy opponent. It should be interesting. … I want Amanda to win. She’s a sweetheart and a good girl. I think she deserves it.”

For more on UFC 207, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.