Miesha Tate knows all about women’s tournaments. The day before her own tournament on Friday’s Strikeforce Challengers, Bellator kicks off their inaugural 115 pound women’s tournament to open the promotion’s third season. Although Tate doesn’t fight at 115 pounds, she’s excited to see another promoter take a chance on women’s MMA. As she told me:
I’m really excited about that because they are promoting a weight that doesn’t get much showcasing. I also have a really good friend, Lisa Ward, who fought for Bellator. It was a non tournament fight but she’s going to be in the tournament too. She’s so cool, but she’s had a hell of a time getting fights. She’s ranked like top three in the world. A lot of girls in that weight class are not well developed and she’s top three in the world. There are a lot of girls in it, believe it or not, but they’re all 2-1 or 1-1 and they’re like ‘No, we’re not ready to fight Lisa. We’re not ready to fight Megumi.’ Because they are still developing as fighters. So the girls who started that division at the very beginning are sitting dormant. For years it seems like. It’s just so crazy how long they have to go in between fights. But I’m excited to see some of those top girls are getting their shot at some publicity and to make some money. Bellator, I think, is awesome.