When Miesha Tate got the call to replace the injured Cat Zingano as coach of The Ultimate Fighter opposite Ronda Rousey, MMA fans figured the pairing could make for explosive TV. UFC executives were no doubt hoping that would be true.
Dana White told the media during the UFC 161 scrum that the rivalry between the two might actually be going a little too far:
“It’s going exactly the way you’d expect it to be going, bad! I’m dead serious. Miesha and Ronda hate each other. It’s literally crazy drama every day. It’s irritating. It’s Ken-Tito type stuff. I don’t even know if some of the stuff will make TV. It’s bad. Those two do not like each other and their camps do not like each other. And it’s just pure f—— mayhem every day.”
Tate and Rousey have a pretty contentious history, dating back to their title fight last year, a fight that saw Rousey nearly destroy Tate’s arm with an armbar. The build up to that fight was very heated and the two seem to genuinely dislike each other. There seems to be far less of the old “just for promotion” kiss and make up stuff that is so prominent in most of the UFC’s biggest rivalries.