Miesha Tate sees valid points in Germaine de Randamie’s refusal to fight Cris Cyborg.
Tate also sees why fans would be disappointed in not seeing de Randamie face Cyborg. A former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title holder herself, Tate realizes the importance of a fighting champion. The title holder is expected to take on all worthy challengers.
In de Randamie’s case, she was stripped of the women’s featherweight gold for not fighting the next challenger.
Tate gave her two cents during a recent appearance on MMAFighting.com‘s “The MMA Hour:”
“I mean, what do you really have to lose when you fight someone like Cyborg, of her stature? If you beat Cyborg, you’re on another level of respect. And if you lose, it’s like, well so has everybody. So, my opinion of it is, as a fighter, just from a fighter standpoint I think it would be an awesome thing to be able to fight Cyborg.”
She also stepped in “The Iron Lady’s” shoes.
“I do respect and understand what Germaine is saying and I don’t think she’s scared of Cyborg. She’s a fighter. She’s been kickboxing forever. She’s one of the baddest women on the planet. [De Randamie’s] point she’s trying to make is, she doesn’t believe it’s fair,” Tate later added, “and that, I cannot disagree. I don’t disagree with what she’s saying.”