“There’s Women Like Paige VanZant” – Miesha Tate Happy With How Women’s MMA Is Progressing

While MMA in itself is a pretty young sport, women’s MMA is even more nascent. Miesha Tate is someone who has been around the sport ever since women first competed on the big stage. When the current Vice-President of ONE Championship looks at fighters like Paige VanZant, she feels that the women are headed in the right direction.

A former UFC and Strikeforce champion, Miesha Tate is someone who was around when the UFC first brought in female fighters. Her rivalry with Ronda Rousey played a big role in giving women’s MMA the impetus it needed. As of today, the sport has come a long way for them. We have fighters like Amanda Nunes who are in the contention of being the greatest fighter of all time.

“There was a time when women were not allowed to fight in the UFC, and it wasn’t that long ago. It was 2013 that women made the debut and before that, a lot of my career before that. I mean, we had almost no options,” Miesha Tate said while talking to EssentiallySports.

Miesha Tate highlights the example of Paige VanZant

For Tate, what stands out as the perfect example of empowerment of women in MMA, is the situation with Paige VanZant. The former ‘Dancing With the Stars’ contestant has just finished her UFC contract. Despite suffering a loss in her last fight at UFC 251 against Amanda Ribas, she is actively exploring options in free agency.

“I am just gonna use Paige VanZant as an example. Now there’s women like Paige VanZant who said I am gonna finish my contract and see what my options are. How great is that she has options. She potentially knows what will happen with her but it’s great to see that women are not only getting by with fighting but flourishing and getting paid better,” Miesha Tate said.

VanZant was in talks with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. Bellator was also a prime location for her to land, given that her husband is already fighting in the promotion.

After retiring from the competition and becoming a mother of two, Miesha Tate, is now in the corporate role. She also serves as a coach at Evolve MMA. Now that she is in a position to affect the lives of young fighters, she vows to make good use of the opportunity.

“I still want to continue to make a difference here in Asia coz not everywhere in the world you know, is everybody celebrating the martial arts form for women as well as for the arts of men. So there’s still work to do. Always work to do, but we are chipping away,” she added.