If Ronda Rousey emerges victorious in Brazil on Saturday night against Bethe Correia at UFC 190 then her next opponent will be an old adversary in Miesha Tate, and despite having already beaten her twice before she’s says she’s more than happy to fight her for a third time.
“There’s fan interest, so then there’s my interest,” Rousey said on the UFC 190 Media call yesterday. “I’m interested in just defending my title as many times as I need to before I feel like I’m done. If she’s the best competitor and she’s who the fans want to see, then I’m extremely interested in doing it.”
Rousey first defeated Tate by a first round armbar back when they were both fighting for Strikeforce, and then again in the UFC with the same move, albeit this time their fight lasted until the third round – the furthest any of ‘Rowdy’s’ fights have gone so far in her career.
Tate keeps fighting her way back to the top of the division though and despite the fact that there’s always been bad blood between the two, Rousey is more than willing to acknowledge her rival’s talent as a fighter.
“I’m not surprised,” Rousey said of Tate getting another title opportunity. “She’s a great competitor and a great athlete. I’ve always said amazing things about her as a fighter.”
And in some ways it seems that she’s greatful that fighters like Tate keep rising to the challenge.
“I need these other girls. It’s not like I can do this by myself. I need a dancing partner. The analogy that I use a lot is that these girls are like plants. Sometimes you can grow a crop and you can harvest it year after year like Miesha. Sometimes you harvest it once, it’ll never grow back.”
Nevertheless, Rousey says she now has plans to shut down both Correia and Tate for good.
“I don’t think Bethe will ever come back after this, But I think this might be the final season I can harvest the Tate crop.”
listen to the full UFC 190 Media Conference Call below.
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