Miesha Tate and Sara McMann vying for title contention at UFC 183

Miesha ‘Cupcake’ Tate bounced back from consecutive losses against Cat Zingano and Ronda Rousey in 2013 to position herself within touching distance of another title-shot later this year. She has since reeled off victories against Liz Carmouche and Rin Nakai and a dominant performance against #3 Sara McMann should see her positioned for rematches with either of her 2013 conquerors.

McMann, for her part, rebounded from her first career loss against Rousey last February with a split-decision win over Lauren Murphy in August.

The bout pairs two of the most dominant female wrestlers in MMA. McMann, a silver medallist at the 2004 Olympics, didn’t get a chance to impose her style when she faced off with unbeaten women’s champion Rousey, succumbing to a body-shot in the first round. It was a disappointingly brief contest, considering most commentators felt McMann could take the fight into the later rounds against the champ. A victory over Tate will position her firmly within championship contention once again.

Tate is a veteran of women’s MMA and I think this experience will see her through to victory. She is still the only person to get out of the first round against Rousey and her determination to dethrone the current titleholder still runs deep. Her striking has improved noticeably over the last 12 months and I see her wearing down McMann and winning by submission in the 2^nd round.

The fact that the winner between Tate and McMann will be back in title contention after this fight highlights the shallowness of the female roster at 135lbs. Rousey faces off with #1 Cat Zingano at UFC 184 at the end of February and Tate is currently 0-3 against the top two. She recently stated she wouldn’t able to cut to the strawweight limit so the couple of fights could define her career in MMA.

@SimonGMaguire