Tate’s perfect 2022: A title, Holly Holm and Ronda Rousey
Miesha Tate reached out to UFC president Dana White in the summer of 2020. Tate and her husband, Johnny Nunez, had just had their second child, Daxton, and Tate was contemplating a comeback to the Octagon.
At the time, Tate and Nunez were living in Singapore. Tate was working in an office role for Asia-based One Championship and Nunez was fighting for that MMA promotion. But COVID-19 restrictions were making things difficult for the young family and they were planning on moving back home to Las Vegas.
With those thoughts in mind, Tate sent White a message on Instagram asking what the UFC boss thought about her — the former UFC women’s bantamweight champion — returning to competition for the first time since 2016. White, Tate said, saw the message. But he never responded.
“He totally ghosted me,” Tate said with a laugh.
Despite the lack of communication from White, Tate and Nunez went forward with their move back to the United States. Tate returned to Vegas with Daxton and their daughter, Amaia, that September. And in early 2021, Tate took things a step further with the UFC. She showed up unannounced to White’s office.
This time, he had no choice but to listen to her pitch. Tate said White was hesitant at first, but a few weeks later she was booked for a return bout against Marion Reneau. Tate won by third-round TKO — her first knockout in the UFC. “Cupcake,” one of the most popular women to ever set foot in the cage, was back.
On Saturday, Tate will take the next step on her comeback tour against Ketlen Vieira in the main event of UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas (3 p.m. on ESPN+). ESPN ranks Vieira No. 8 in the world at women’s bantamweight. Tate, 35, is hoping a rehauled training regimen and renewed mindset helps vault her into a historic 2022.
The goals Tate has for next year are lofty ones: a title shot against Amanda Nunes, a title defense against former champion Holly Holm and a dream third fight against her heated rival, Ronda Rousey. Nunes has been the UFC women’s bantamweight champion since she choked out Tate to win the belt at UFC 200 in July 2016. Tate retired four months later.
“I think I can get the division spiced up a little bit,” Tate said. “I think that women in the division, they’re gonna be gunning for me — just as much as they’re gunning for Amanda.”
The TKO over Reneau, who had never been finished before, and Tate’s acceptance of the fight against Vieira should be seen as a statement, Nunez said. Tate isn’t back in the UFC just to hunt down big-money fights, even though she could, given her significant following. She wants to work her way back up the ranks and become the best 135-pound fighter in the world again.
“She’s a weirdo,” Nunez said with a laugh. “I love her to death, but she is that type. She couldn’t care less about the money, really. She wants to dig down deep and test herself and show our kids that anything is possible pretty much through hard work.”
Tate was surprised at her home eight days before the Vieira fight by USADA, the UFC’s anti-drug partner. The doping control officers took samples of her blood and urine for testing. Tate joked that USADA officials must have been browsing her Instagram selfies.
“I’m shredded,” Tate said with a laugh. “I’m like 12% body fat. They just can’t believe it.”
Nunez, an Ultimate Fighter veteran, has seen a marked difference in Tate during training. “Especially now when she’s in such good shape and stuff, I can’t take a second off with her,” he said. “I always have to be at the top of my game. She’ll catch me sometimes. Then I gotta hear it from her and she’s gonna tell people that she subbed me.”
Tate has completely changed her strength and conditioning regimen since returning from retirement. She’s working remotely with the Treigning Lab’s Sam Calavitta, who coaches the likes of former UFC men’s bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw, and on site in Las Vegas with trainer Korey Goodwin. Since she fought Reneau in July, Tate said she’s put on five pounds of lean muscle. Nunez said the detail-oriented Calavitta has Tate’s weight cut down to the calorie.
That is a far cry from Tate’s pre-retirement training camps, which Nunez described as “old school.” Nunez and Tate were not a couple until after her retirement in 2016, but they were teammates at Xtreme Couture. At the time, Tate’s camps were led by her ex-boyfriend, Bryan Caraway. Tate has been public about how what she has described as a toxic relationship affected her training and performances. That’s one of the main motivating factors behind her coming back now, she said — to see if she can achieve the potential she didn’t think she was able to reach before.
“I think it would be such a shame to leave the sport the way that I did, knowing that I was never allowed to or I was never able to give my full 100%,” Tate said. “Whether I become a champion or not, I had to do this for me.”
And that’s also the reason why recently she has been thinking about Rousey. The two had one of the most historic rivalries in mixed martial arts in the early part of the last decade. In many ways, the Rousey vs. Tate feud helped women’s MMA blow up, first in Strikeforce and then in the UFC. Rousey owns two armbar submission wins over Tate, in 2012 and 2013. Tate said her relationship with Caraway was a “detriment” to her and Rousey knew it — and exploited it.
“She knew part of the kryptonite for me was in my former relationship. [She] was causing the rift between him and I so that everything was unstable in the personal life,” Tate said. “I think I went into those fights so congested in my mind. I really wasn’t able to be just fighting her. I was also fighting myself. I was also fighting my relationship. I was also fighting all these extenuating circumstances.”
Tate said it would be a “dream” for Rousey to return from retirement, adding, “I know I have what it takes to beat Ronda Rousey.”
But Tate doesn’t want anyone to take her opinion as a direct challenge. Rousey just had her first child with husband Travis Browne in September, and Tate respects that.
“Don’t get me twisted,” Tate said. “I’m not trying to call out a brand-new mama. This has to be something she wants, too. I wouldn’t want to just call her out. She’s doing her thing, she’s retired. I would want to fight her at her best. If she chose she wanted to come back and she was like, ‘I want to come back and fight Miesha Tate’ or whoever, I would love another shot at her. But only if she was taking it seriously and she was training at her best and that’s what she wants, too.”
1:03
Miesha Tate discusses how happy she was to be back in octagon at UFC Vegas 31.
Rousey vs. Tate 3 might not be realistic. Rousey has given no indication she wants to fight again. But Tate’s other goals for next year could be within reach. Tate has said from the moment she signed to fight Reneau that she wants another crack at Nunes. A win over Vieira, Tate believes, could get her that shot.
“I think a dominant win over her puts me, for sure, in the top five,” Tate said. “And I understand it could definitely put me in a No. 1 contender conversation. I think it depends on the performance.”
That’s very much on her mind as she prepares for this fight. Tate said she used the momentum from the Reneau finish to jump right back into training camp for Vieira. The fight was supposed to happen last month, but Tate tested positive for COVID-19, which she says has had no real ill effects on her training.
Tate wants very badly to make up for that lackluster, first-round defeat to Nunes in the main event of UFC 200. She envisions in which she wins the title back from Nunes in 2022 and Holm is her first challenger. Tate beat Holm to win the title at UFC 196 in March 2016 and Tate believes that rematch would make for the “perfect story.”
Of course, all these gold-lined roads for Tate first must go through Vieira. That’s fine, she said. Because if you weren’t convinced by her TKO win over Reneau, “then let me just sell you again Nov. 20,” Tate said.
An impressive victory could open up all kinds of fascinating matchups next year, fights that could infuse the women’s bantamweight division with some much-needed pizzazz. Tate is thinking big and is ready to back up her vision with her fists. On Saturday, she has a chance to open up the kind of possibilities that even White, the UFC president, cannot ignore.
“Title, Holly Holm, Ronda Rousey,” Tate said. “I would love it.”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR went before a federal judge Wednesday and asked for the antitrust suit filed against the stock car series to be dismissed. Should it proceed, NASCAR asked that the two teams suing be ordered to post a bond to cover fees they would not be legally owed if they lose the case.
NASCAR also asked U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell of the Western District of North Carolina to dismiss chairman Jim France as a defendant in the suit filed by 23XI Racing, a team co-owned by NBA Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, and Front Row Motorsports, which is owned by entrepreneur Bob Jenkins.
Bell promised a fast ruling but indicated he was unlikely to dismiss the suit when he closed the 90-minute hearing. The calendar he set when he received the case last month calls for a December trial.
“This case is going to be tried this year, and deserves to be tried this year,” Bell said.
Bell replaced Judge Frank Whitney, who heard the first round of arguments in early November. The teams went before Whitney and asked to be recognized as chartered teams this year as the suit progresses, but Whitney denied the motion.
The teams appealed and the case was transferred to Bell, who overruled Whitney and granted an injunction that allow 23XI and Front Row to compete with charter recognition throughout the 2025 season. That led NASCAR to request the teams post a bond to cover all the payouts they will receive as chartered teams as collateral should the teams lose the case.
NASCAR and the teams that compete in the top Cup Series operate with a franchise system that was implemented in 2016 in which 36 cars have “charters” that guarantee them a spot in the field at every race and financial incentives. There are four “open” spots earmarked for the field each week.
The teams banded together in negotiations on an improved charter system in a contentious battle with NASCAR for nearly two years. NASCAR in September finally had enough and presented the teams with a take-it-or-leave-it offer that had to be signed same day — just 48 hours before the start of the playoffs.
23XI and Front Row were the only two teams out of 15 who refused to sign the new charter agreement. They then teamed together to sue NASCAR and France, arguing as the only stock car entity in the United States, NASCAR has a monopoly and the teams are not getting their fair share of the pie.
Both organizations maintained they would still compete as open cars, but convinced Bell last month to give them chartered status by arguing they would suffer irreparable harm as open cars. Among the claims was that 23XI driver Tyler Reddick, last year’s regular season champion, would contractually become an immediate free agent if the team did not have him in a guaranteed chartered car.
Bell peppered both sides with questions regarding payout structures, what harm NASCAR would suffer if the teams were open cars and other issues.
“Why give a charter to anyone?” he at one point asked NASCAR.
Replied NASCAR attorney Christopher Yates, of Latham & Watkins: “NASCAR would be perfectly fine going back to that (pre-charter) model.”
Bell admitted he doesn’t normally hear motions to dismiss but did Wednesday because “we’ve got to get this case moving.” He later said he felt the hearing was beneficial as he was able to “size up” the attorneys and they could do the same with him.
Bell also warned both sides to work together to avoid disputes and promised the losing side will pay the fees for the discovery portion of the case.
With all indications that Bell is not going to dismiss the suit, it appears the only suspense will be if he orders the teams to post bond before the season begins next month. NASCAR argued Wednesday that it needs that money earmarked because it would be redistributed to the chartered teams if 23XI and Front Row lose.
Jeffery Kessler, considered the top antitrust lawyer in the country, argued that NASCAR has made no such promise to redistribute the funds to other teams. Kessler said NASCAR told teams it was up to NASCAR’s discretion how it would use the money and didn’t rule out spending some on its own legal fees.
Jordan and Jenkins attended the first hearing but were not present Wednesday. Only 23XI co-owner Denny Hamlin was present, along with his fiancee and mother. France and vice chairman Mike Helton were in the gallery with NASCAR’s in-house legal counsel and members of the communications team.
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Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer
DANIA BEACH, Fla. — While discussing the opportunity that awaits Penn State in the College Football Playoff, coach James Franklin said Wednesday that the showdown against Notre Dame is about “representing our schools and our conferences.”
Franklin then caught himself, realizing Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman was sitting just to his right.
“Or our conference, excuse me,” Franklin said.
Penn State will be representing the Big Ten against FBS independent Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl on Thursday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN) at Hard Rock Stadium.
The Nittany Lions reached the Big Ten championship game before earning a No. 6 seed in the first 12-team CFP, while the Fighting Irish made the playoff as an at-large and earned the No. 7 seed despite playing in one fewer game.
Franklin said he thinks a larger CFP ultimately requires more uniformity around college football, including every team to be part of a conference and playing the same number of league games. Notre Dame, one of three remaining FBS independents, sees its status as central to the school’s identity and has resisted chances to join the Big Ten and other conferences over the years. The Fighting Irish compete in the ACC for most of their other major sports, and they have a scheduling agreement with the ACC in football.
“It should be consistent across college football,” Franklin said. “This is no knock at [Freeman] or Notre Dame, but I think everybody should be in a conference. I think everybody should play a conference championship game, or nobody should play a conference champion championship game. I think everybody should play the same number of conference games.”
Penn State reached the CFP by playing nine conference games as well as the Big Ten championship game against No. 1 Oregon, which defeated the Nittany Lions 45-37 on Dec. 7. The Big 12 also has maintained a nine-game league slate, while the SEC and ACC have stayed at eight conference games.
Franklin, who coached at Vanderbilt before Penn State, praised the SEC for remaining at eight league games, which the league’s coaches wanted. The SEC has repeatedly considered going to nine league games during Franklin’s time in the Big Ten.
“I was not a math major at East Stroudsburg, but just the numbers are going to make things more challenging if you’re playing one more conference game,” he said.
Franklin also highlighted other areas of the sport that could be made more uniform, including starting the season a week earlier to ease the strain of playing more games with an expanded playoff. He reiterated his desire to appoint a college football commissioner unaffiliated with a school or a conference, and once again mentioned longtime coach and current ESPN analyst Nick Saban as an option, along with former Washington and Boise State coach Chris Petersen, now a Fox college football analyst, and Dave Clawson, who recently stepped down as Wake Forest’s coach.
“We need somebody that is looking at it from a big-picture perspective,” Franklin said.
Freeman acknowledged that Notre Dame prides itself on its independence. He said the team uses the weekend of conference championships, when they’re guaranteed not to be playing, as another open week for recovery and other priorities.
Notre Dame ended the regular season Nov. 30 and did not play again until Dec. 20, when it hosted Indiana in a first-round CFP game. In helping craft the format for the 12-team CFP, former Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick agreed that if the Irish were selected, they would not be eligible to earn a bye into the quarterfinals.
Freeman noted that he doesn’t have a strong opinion on whether college football needs more uniformity.
“I’m a guy that just [thinks], ‘Tell us what we’re doing and let’s go, and you move forward,'” Freeman said. “I love where we’re at right now. [Athletic director] Pete Bevacqua and our Notre Dame administration will continue to make decisions that are best for our program.”
Franklin said his desire for greater consistency stems from the CFP selection process and the difficulty of committee members to sort through teams with vastly different paths and profiles, and determine strength of schedule and other factors.
“How do you put those people that are in that room to make a really important decision that impacts the landscape of college football, and they can’t compare apples to apples or oranges to oranges?” Franklin said. “I think that makes it very, very difficult.”
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