Meisha Tate is the woman from which Ronda Rousey won her championship, back when it was the Strikeforce Women's bantamweight title. When Strikeforce was bought up by the UFC, Rousey challenged Liz Carmouche in the first women's championship fight in the promotion, but it was really that Tate fight that made her. In the rematch, under the UFC banner, Tate became the first person to last more than a round with Rousey (making it into the third before being submitted) - and arguably, she remains the only competition currently in the UFC that has a legitimate chance of beating Rousey. The problem is that since losing to Rousey for the second time, Tate has dominated every girl she has faced, only to have nothing to show for it. She was promised another crack at the title, only to have the rug pulled out from under her. She was so disheartened by the snub that she has openly spoken of retiring, which would be a huge loss for MMA. The UFC's loss, however, could easily be the WWE's gain. Tate's got the look (as Joe Rogan, one of the voices of the UFC, recently pointed out), and could easily be packaged and marketed as a huge star. If the UFC won't take advantage of that, maybe the WWE should.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
