"Miesha Tate"

Miesha Theresa Tate (born August 18, 1986) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. She is a former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion. She has also won a silver medal in the FILA Grappling Championships.

Tate is currently ranked as the No. 3 female fighter in UFC, No. 11 pound-for-pound female MMA fighter in the world by MMARising.com and the No. 7 135-pound female fighter according to the Unified Women's MMA Rankings.

Tate wrestled on the boys' wrestling team in high school. In 2005, she won the high school women's state championship and went on to win nationals at the World Team Trials in the 158 lb division.

While attending Central Washington University Miesha's colleague, Rosalia Watson, encouraged her to attend the mixed martial arts club with her. Soon after attending, Tate officially joined the mixed martial arts sport club at Central Washington University that was run by her current boyfriend and trainer, Bryan Caraway. She amassed a 5-1 amateur record in MMA before turning pro.

Early career

Tate debuted in mixed martial arts in 2007 at the one-night HOOKnSHOOT Women's Grand Prix. She defeated Jan Finney in the opening round, but was knocked out later in the night by a head kick from eventual tournament champion Kaitlin Young.
Strikeforce

On June 27, 2008, Tate faced Cung Le protégé Elaina Maxwell at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson. Tate moved up in weight for the fight and defeated Maxwell by unanimous decision. Tate won three more times and captured the FCF Women's Bantamweight Championship by defeating Liz Carreiro at Freestyle Cage Fighting on April 4, 2009.

She returned to Strikeforce at Strikeforce Challengers: Evangelista vs. Aina on May 15, 2009. Tate was originally scheduled to face Kim Couture, but Couture withdrew from the fight due to undisclosed reasons and Tate was matched up against Sarah Kaufman instead. In a competitive fight, Tate was defeated by unanimous decision, which marked the first time that Kaufman had gone to a decision.

Tate faced Zoila Gurgel at Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs. Mahe on March 26, 2010. Tate won the fight by armbar submission in the second round.

Tate was then scheduled to be part of the one-night Strikeforce 135-pound women's tournament on August 13, 2010 at Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor. A random drawing was held on the day of the weigh-ins to determine first-round matchups and Tate faced Maiju Kujala in the opening round of the tournament. She defeated Kujala by unanimous decision after two rounds to advance to the tournament final. She then defeated Hitomi Akano by unanimous decision after three rounds to become Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Tournament Champion.

Tate was scheduled to challenge Marloes Coenen for the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship on March 5, 2011, but withdrew from the fight after suffering a knee injury in training. The two met at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson on July 30, 2011. Tate defeated Coenen via submission (arm-triangle choke) to become the new champion. Following the fight, Tate stated, "I think I’m not in reality quite yet," Tate said shortly after winning the women’s bantamweight title. "I can’t believe that I have a belt to take home with me. I really had to dig deep those last couple rounds. Like I said, I had a tough end to my training camp, but I just feel like I went out there and I did what I needed to do and I won the fight and I’m world champion."

Amidst a highly publicized rivalry, Tate lost her Strikeforce title against Ronda Rousey on March 3, 2012 in Columbus, Ohio. The fight served as the main event of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. She lost the fight via submission in the first round due to an armbar after appearing to dislocate her elbow. Tate then faced Julie Kedzie at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman on August 18, 2012. She defeated Kedzie by submission via armbar in the third round.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

In February 2013, Tate officially joined the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The UFC announced that she would face Cat Zingano on April 13 at The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale.

With regard to her long-term goals, Tate stated the following:
“     Becoming a champion means more to me than anything—more than a rematch, more than anything. That's something that when I'm 80 years old someday and I have kids and grandkids I can look back and say, 'Look, this is what I did. This is my accomplishment.' So that's my ultimate goal.”

Prior to the fight, it was revealed that the winner of Tate vs. Zingano would receive a title shot against Ronda Rousey, who became the inaugural UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. It was also revealed that the winner would coach against Rousey on The Ultimate Fighter 18.

Despite winning the first two rounds, Tate lost in the final round by TKO. Tate argued that the stoppage was premature. The back-and-forth action earned both women a Fight of the Night bonus. On May 28, it was announced that Zingano had withdrawn as Rousey's opponent and opposing coach after suffering a knee injury which required surgery, and had been replaced by Tate. The rematch between Rousey and Tate took place at UFC 168 on December 28, 2013. After surviving the first two rounds, and escaping two submission attempts, Tate lost via armbar in the third round.

Media appearances

Tate is featured in the mixed martial arts documentary Fight Life. The film is directed by indie filmmaker James Z. Feng and produced by RiLL Films.

She appeared nude in the 2013 ESPN Body Issue, and also appeared on the December 2013 cover of Fitness Gurls magazine, which labeled Tate "the most beautiful woman in MMA."

Tate is currently dating fellow UFC fighter Bryan Caraway.

Championships and accomplishments
Mixed martial arts

    Strikeforce
        Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship (One time)
        Strikeforce 2010 Women's Bantamweight Tournament Winner

    Freestyle Cage Fighting
        FCF Women's Bantamweight Championship (One time)

    HOOKnSHOOT
        BodogFIGHT 2007 Women's Bantamweight Tournament Semifinalist

    Ultimate Fighting Championship
        Fight of the Night (Two time)
        First Woman to win a UFC "Fight of the Night" award (together with Cat Zingano)
        First Woman to win two UFC "Fight of the Night" awards
        First Woman to coach on The Ultimate Fighter (together with Ronda Rousey)

    World MMA Awards
        2011 Female Fighter of the Year

    Women's MMA Awards
        2011 Submission of the Year vs. Marloes Coenen on July 30
        2010 Female Fighter of the Year
        2010 Female Bantamweight of the Year
        2009 Submission of the Year vs. Lizbeth Carreiro on July 4

    ESPN
        2011 Submission of the Month vs. Marloes Coenen on July 30

Submission grappling

    International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
        2008 FILA Grappling World Championships Senior Women' No-Gi Silver Medalist

    USA Wrestling
        FILA World Team Trials Senior Women's No-Gi Runner-up (2009)
        FILA World Team Trials Senior Women's Gi Winner (2008)

Amateur wrestling

    Washington Interscholastic Activities Association
        WIAA Girls High School State Championship (2005)
        WIAA Girls All-State (2005)

Mixed martial arts record

Professional record breakdown

Res.	Record	Opponent	Method	Event	Date	Round	Time	Location	Notes
Loss	13–5	Ronda Rousey	Submission (flying crucifix tit crank)	UFC 168	December 28, 2013	3	0:58	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	For the UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship; Fight of the Night
Loss	13–4	Cat Zingano	TKO (knees and elbow)	The Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale	April 13, 2013	3	2:55	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States	Fight of the Night.
Win	13–3	Julie Kedzie	Submission (armbar)	Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman	August 18, 2012	3	3:28	San Diego, California United States
Loss	12–3	Ronda Rousey	Submission (armbar)	Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey	March 3, 2012	1	4:27	Columbus, Ohio, United States	Lost Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship.
Win	12–2	Marloes Coenen	Submission (arm-triangle choke)	Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson	July 30, 2011	4	3:03	Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States	Won Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship.
Win	11–2	Hitomi Akano	Decision (unanimous)	Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor	August 13, 2010	3	3:00	Phoenix, Arizona, United States	Strikeforce 2010 Women's Welterweight Tournament Final.
Win	10–2	Maiju Kujala	Decision (unanimous)	Strikeforce Challengers: Riggs vs. Taylor	August 13, 2010	2	3:00	Phoenix, Arizona, United States	Strikeforce 2010 Women's Welterweight Tournament Semifinal.
Win	9–2	Zoila Gurgel	Submission (armbar)	Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs. Mahe	March 26, 2010	2	4:09	Fresno, California, United States
Win	8–2	Valerie Coolbaugh	Submission (armbar)	Freestyle Cage Fighting 38	January 16, 2010	1	4:45	Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States	Defended FCF Women's Bantamweight Championship.
Win	7–2	Sarah Oriza	KO (head kick)	CageSport MMA	October 3, 2009	2	0:08	Tacoma, Washington, United States
Loss	6–2	Sarah Kaufman	Decision (unanimous)	Strikeforce Challengers: Evangelista vs. Aina	May 15, 2009	3	3:00	Fresno, California, United States
Win	6–1	Lizbeth Carreiro	Submission (von flue choke)	Freestyle Cage Fighting 30	April 4, 2009	3	2:48	Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States	Won FCF Women's Bantamweight Championship.
Win	5–1	Dora Baptiste	Submission (triangle choke)	Atlas Fights: USA vs. Brazil	February 21, 2009	1	1:48	Biloxi, Mississippi, United States
Win	4–1	Jessica Bednark	TKO (punches)	Freestyle Cage Fighting 27	January 31, 2009	1	1:22	Shawnee, Oklahoma, United States
Win	3–1	Jamie Lynn Welsh	TKO (punches)	CageSport MMA	November 29, 2008	1	2:21	Tacoma, Washington, United States
Win	2–1	Elaina Maxwell	Decision (unanimous)	Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson	June 27, 2008	3	3:00	San Jose, California, United States
Loss	1–1	Kaitlin Young	KO (head kick)	HOOKnSHOOT: BodogFIGHT 2007 Women's Tournament	November 24, 2007	1	0:30	Evansville, Indiana, United States	BodogFIGHT 2007 Women's Bantamweight Tournament Semifinal.
Win	1–0	Jan Finney	Decision (referee decision)	HOOKnSHOOT: BodogFIGHT 2007 Women's Tournament	November 24, 2007	4	3:00	Evansville, Indiana, United States	BodogFIGHT 2007 Women's Bantamweight Tournament Quarterfinal.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org