10 Huge UFC Stars Who Could Return In 2017

Could the retired UFC and Strikeforce women's champ be lured back by the new featherweight division?

Miesha Tate hung up her gloves after UFC 205 in New York, announcing her retirement following a loss to Raquel Pennington in which Tate seemed completely unmotivated. She left the sport as the second best female bantamweight fighter in history, and the only fighter to go into the third round with Ronda Rousey. Along with Rousey, she's one of the only two females to wear gold in both Strikeforce and the UFC.

She also had a promising career in broadcasting to look forward to. Tate has since begun appearing on UFC broadcasts on Fox sports, and is a welcome addition to the crew.

But... there's always a but. In 2017 the UFC opted to launch a new weight class for women, featherweight. It booked the inaugural featherweight title fight at UFC 208 between Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie. de Randamie won a controversial decision to become champ, something surely not lost on Tate. Tate, after all, beat Holm to capture UFC gold last year at UFC 196. 145lbs is only 10 lbs North of bantamweight, and surely the lure of a second title in the UFC would be strong.

Tate downplayed the possibility of a comeback recently, saying it wasn't even on the radar. However, don't rule it out. There's a slim chance she could change her mind, and come back by the end of the year, especially since featherweight is such a barren wasteland currently.