Miesha Tate Record: 20-10-0

Strikeforce champion and the Rousey rivalry

Tate's biggest Strikeforce moment came in July 2011, when she submitted Marloes Coenen by fourth-round arm-triangle choke to win the Strikeforce women's bantamweight title. Her first defense, in March 2012, became one of the sport's defining moments: Ronda Rousey took the belt with a first-round armbar, igniting a rivalry that helped push women's MMA into the mainstream. Tate rebounded with a third-round armbar of Julie Kedzie later that year.

UFC run and the title

In the UFC, Tate dropped a 2013 TKO to Cat Zingano and a second armbar loss to Ronda Rousey in their UFC 168 rematch, but she answered with the best run of her career. Decision wins over Liz Carmouche, Rin Nakai, Sara McMann and Jessica Eye set up a title shot. At UFC 196 in March 2016, Tate submitted champion Holly Holm with a fifth-round rear-naked choke to capture the UFC women's bantamweight championship in one of the year's most dramatic finishes.

Later career

The reign was brief. At UFC 200 in July 2016, Amanda Nunes submitted Tate in the first round to take the belt, and a decision loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 prompted Tate to retire. She returned years later, beating Marion Reneau by TKO in 2021, then fell to Ketlen Vieira and dropped to flyweight for a loss to Lauren Murphy. A 2023 rear-naked choke of Julia Avila showed the old grappling still worked, before a 2025 decision loss to Yana Santos left her at 20-10.

Fighting style

Tate is a grinder built on wrestling and submissions. Her finishing instincts stand out – 60 percent of her wins come inside the distance, with eight submissions among her 20 victories and a knack for late finishes when opponents tired, as the fifth-round chokes of Holm and the comeback against Coenen showed. Her striking was always the support act rather than the weapon, and her losses tended to come against the division's elite finishers, but her durability, pace and championship-level grappling made her one of the most respected fighters of her era.

Career highlights

• UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion — submitted Holly Holm with a fifth-round rear-naked choke at UFC 196 to win the title.
• Strikeforce champion — defeated Marloes Coenen in 2011 to claim the Strikeforce women's bantamweight belt.
• Women's MMA pioneer — her rivalry with Ronda Rousey helped bring the women's divisions into the UFC's mainstream spotlight.