THE last time we saw Miesha Tate in action in the Octagon she lost her UFC women’s bantamweight title to Amanda Nunes at UFC 200.
Now, after taking some time off to recharge her batteries, ‘Cupcake’ is back and ready to put on a show-stealing performance at UFC 205 this weekend.
“I feel great, and I think sometimes the best mental coach you can have is yourself,” she said.
“Taking the time to ask yourself the questions that need to be answered.
“That’s why I went and travelled by myself for a while, just to have some ‘me time’.
“I went out to Belgium and went out to Thailand and kicked off my camp there. It was beautiful and amazing and refreshing.
“They trained really hard so I feel like I came into camp in incredible shape.
“And I’ve learned to deliver a lot of power behind my hands, so I’m very excited about that.
“I feel like I’m ready… It was solid training and very refreshing.”
Tate faces Raquel Pennington at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night looking to not just bounce back to winning ways, but also put on the best performance of her mixed martial arts career.
“I want to be able to go out there and have the performance of my career and be able to entertain,” she said.
“But the one thing I can say about Raquel is she’s very tough to put away. She’s very durable, she’s good and very well rounded.
“But that makes for a very exciting fight.”
And despite facing a tough challenge on Saturday night, Tate joked that things don’t always go according to plan on fight night.
“I want to go out there and have the best performance of my career,” she said.
“That’s what I’ve been visualising. That’s what I plan on.
“But there’s always the plan until you get punched in the face, right?!”
And if she wins, she’d love to face old adversary Ronda Rousey in a third fight in 2017 if the former champion defeats Nunes at UFC 207 on December 30.
“Yeah, essentially,” she said.
“I think that a good performance against Raquel – she’s a really viable opponent and beating her says a lot. It really solidifies my position as the next potential number-one contender.
“I was already thinking that when she was going to fight Holly – she’d already mentioned about she didn’t have much time (left).
“So it didn’t surprise me at all. It just reaffirmed that it’s a race against the clock.
“I dunno. I hope that whatever happens for this next fight for Rousey it’s not her last one.
“And I hope that I go out there, win this fight on Saturday and put can put an argument together that a third fight could be in the future.”
But when asked whether she’d rather get a win over Rousey or win back the title, Tate was clear.
“I would pick the belt”.
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