Former UFC woman’s bantamweight title contender Bethe Correia hasn’t fought since her 34 second KO loss to Ronda Rousey back in August, but the Brazilian fighter is hoping for a big fight against Miesha Tate to mark her return to action.
Tate had been quick to state her case for the next shot at the title after Holly Holm’s jaw dropping head kick KO victory against Rousey earlier this month, but the way Correia sees it, she hasn’t earned the right to do so yet.
“I believe Miesha Tate’s fights were not that great to secure her a title shot that she asks for so much,” Correia told Tatame. “She hasn’t knocked anybody out. I have. I want to fight her and show what I’m really capable of. I only have one loss and that is to the former champion. No wonder all girls in the UFC want to fight me. I’ve been waiting, but I really want to fight my second biggest rival in the UFC. She called me out, campaigned on Twitter and said some horrific things about me. She even called me a newbie and said I shouldn’t be where I am. That sounds like envy to me. So I want this fight to happen, because I think she doesn’t deserve to fight for the title again.”
Correia’s outspoken manner helped propel her to what some critics believed was a premature title shot against Rousey, so who knows, maybe a war of words with Tate could lead to that fight happening.
Correia is only ranked No.8 however and is coming off a loss, while Tate is the division’s No.2 contender and is on a four-fight winning streak, so on paper it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.
Certainly, Tate doesn’t appear to be too impressed by the idea judging by her response on social media.
“[We] all know @bethecorreia isn’t the brightest bulb on the tree. #MerryChristmas,” Tate wrote on Twitter.
Tate will likely look to play a holding game for now while she, and indeed everyone else, waits to see when Rousey is going to return. If the rematch between Holm and Rousey goes ahead at UFC 200 then she may be forced to take another fight, but if Rousey wants more time out then she could well be next in line to get the title shot.
As for Correia, after such a tough loss perhaps she’d be better off aiming her sights a little lower and getting back to winning ways rather than risk the possibility of picking up back-to-back defeats and sliding out of the top 10 altogether.
