LAS VEGAS – Ronda Rousey is, once again, in Miesha Tate's future, but on Saturday night, the newly crowned UFC women's bantamweight champion wanted only to think of good times, not the negative emotions associated with a bitter rivalry.
After declining to say when asked at the post-fight news conference what plans were for Tate, UFC president Dana White went on "SportsCenter" following Tate's victory over Holly Holm in the co-main event of Saturday's UFC 196 and assured that Rousey-Tate III would be the new champion's first order of business.
Tate had just completed one of the most amazing comebacks and dramatic victories in the UFC's 20-year-plus history by choking Holm unconscious as time wound down in the fifth round. Holm led on all three scorecards through the four completed rounds, and was winning the fifth until Tate caught her in the rear naked choke.
If Holm had survived until the final bell, she would have retained her belt. The judges likely would have given Tate the final round 10-9, but that would have led to a 47-47 draw and the champion retains the title in that event.
Had Holm hung on and won the final round, it would have been a 48-46 victory for her.
White didn't mention Rousey at the news conference and Tate said she'd face whoever was put in front of her next.
But clearly, she was enjoying her first moments as a UFC champion.
"The right move feels like drinking a Budweiser and eating cupcakes," said Tate, whose nickname is "Cupcake."
"… My job as the champion is to fight the next best person, so whoever that is, I'll fight them."
Later, she stole one of featherweight champion Conor McGregor's favorite lines to give a bit more insight into her celebratory plans with her trainer/boyfriend Bryan Caraway. McGregor always jokes about "a red panties night," after one of his big wins.
"It's really hard to put into words [how it feels], but I did tell Bryan it will be a red boxer-brief night," she said to a roar from the media.
Tate was overwhelmed by emotions, but couldn't wait to spend time with Caraway, who has been the object of ridicule and scorn, much of it started by Rousey. Tate and Caraway have had a long-standing successful personal and professional relationship.
She also raved about her respect for Holm, and though she's one of the best interviews in the UFC, she briefly appeared at a loss for words.
Tate had been through a roller coaster of emotions dating back to 2013 when a women's division was first brought into the UFC. She lost her Strikeforce title to Rousey on March 3, 2012, but came back in August that year with a win over Julie Kedzie. It was not long after that show that White announced women would compete in the UFC and that Rousey would be its first champion.
Liz Carmouche got the first crack at Rousey, but Tate was set to meet Cat Zingano at "The Ultimate Fighter" finale on April 13, 2013. A win would have gotten her a coaching gig opposite Rousey on "TUF" and, most importantly, a rematch.
Tate was leading in the fight when Zingano came back hard in the third, and referee Kim Winslow stopped the contest. An angry Tate said she was fine and blasted Winslow.
But Tate got the coaching gig and the Rousey rematch anyway when Zingano was injured. After a contentious media tour to promote the bout, Tate became the first opponent to take Rousey out of the first round, but she still submitted to an arm bar in the third.
Perhaps Tate's greatest strength is her stubbornness.
"She just is so gritty and always keeps coming and coming," Holm said of her.
Tate knew she'd have to reel off a long winning streak, and after having beaten Carmouche, Rin Nakai and Sara McMann, who got a bout with Jessica Eye on July 25 in Chicago.
White said publicly numerous times the winner would get Rousey. Tate clearly won, and White said at the post-fight news conference that Tate-Rousey would be next. After thinking of it for a couple of weeks, though, he instead gave Holm the shot.
That was devastating to Tate, whose disappointment was so intense she nearly retired.
Holm's historic upset of Rousey in November turned things around for Tate, because it put her back in the game. The UFC didn't really want to make Rousey-Tate III unless it had to, and Holm, as an undefeated fighter with a championship pedigree as a boxer, gave it the perfect opponent to market.
But when Holm won, that opened the door for Tate. As the fifth round began with her down, she walked toward Holm with Caraway's words echoing in her ears.
"I'd told Miesha, 'In this fifth round, you need to bite down on your mouthpiece and you need to turn this into a fight,' " Caraway said. "We were losing a points fight. We were losing a martial arts fight. We needed to turn it into a street fight."
Tate did that, and won one of the most improbable victories in UFC title fight history.
Caraway called it "the greatest feeling of my life." Tate was excited, but she is a veteran who understands the champion always gets the opponent's best.
And with her bitter rival Rousey looming, there will be plenty of tough days to come.
"It honestly feels so great," to have won the title, Tate said. " … But I know the hardest part is still ahead. I have a lot of work to do."
