Miesha Tate made her flyweight debut last night on the main card of UFC on ABC 3. However, it didn’t go to plan for the former UFC bantamweight champion.
‘Cupcake’ was thoroughly bested by Lauren Murphy over three rounds, suffering a painful looking cut and mouse under her left eye. The fight ended in a unanimous decision defeat for Tate, who was competing in her third fight since announcing her return from retirement.
After the fight, Tate took to Instagram to let her following know how she was feeling.
“Some women pay a lot of money for lips like these! All I had to do was get in a little fist fight!” joked Tate while showing off her war wound. “Tonight wasn’t my night, congratulations to [Murphy] and we continue to learn the lessons of life!”
“I’m still blessed beyond measure win lose or draw!” she added. “Thank you to all those who continue to love and support me regardless, you know who you are.”
Tate announced her retirement from MMA in 2016, off the back of losses to Raquel Pennington and Amanda Nunes (where she lost her UFC bantamweight title).
During her time away from the sport, Tate started a family and worked as an executive within the ONE Championship organization.
She announced her return to the Octagon in 2021. Her first fight back was an impressive TKO over Marion Reneau at UFC Vegas 31 last July.
Her second post-retirement fight was against Ketlen Vieira in the main event of UFC Vegas 43 in November. She lost that bout by unanimous decision.
In both the Vieira and Murphy fights Tate was consistently beaten to the punch and unable to implement her well-respected wrestling game. Both fights also saw Tate absorb considerable damage.
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