UFC
Miesha Tate happy with drama-free build to Liz Carmouche fight at UFC on Fox 11
Apr 5, 2014 - 11:00:20 PM Miesha Tate happy with drama-free build to Liz Carmouche fight at UFC on Fox 11

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

In two weeks in Orlando, Fla., Miesha Tate moves on from her second loss to Ronda Rousey when she takes on Liz Carmouche at UFC on Fox 11.

It's a fight she's very much looking forward to, if only because the drama from the last fight is non-existent in this one.

"I really like being matched up with Liz," Tate said in an interview with Brett Okamoto at ESPN.com. "It's so refreshing. She has great sportsmanship. I get along with everyone from her team. It's nice to just not have anything else to focus on. No drama. For most of my life, I've been a drama-free girl."

Tate's loss to Rousey in December came the same way the first one did, by armbar, but she also dragged the Champ further than she'd ever gone in a fight. That said, Tate admits that she got away from her striking gameplan a bit too quickly, and shooting for takedowns gave Rousey more openings than she wanted to give.

"I felt like I had to do something more decisive," Tate said. "I wanted that takedown to make it so that I won the round for sure. That's just what happens in the haste of a fight sometimes. It doesn't come out as clean as it did in training.

"That's why I think [Georges St-Pierre] is one of my favorite fighters. He seems to be able to stick to a game plan and execute it flawlessly, whether it's exciting or not. He does it with perfection every single time. I'm like, 'How do you do that?'"

Both Rousey and Carmouche have two losses in the UFC's women's division, and are fighting to keep their spot on the roster at this stage. As a former Champ and Title challenger, Tate is hoping she can work back there, but she knows it's going to take beating several fighters in order to get to that point.

"I think that's fair," she said. "If I beat three top people: Liz, [Cat] Zingano and [Sara] McMann or something like that. Those are the best girls in the division right now. Beating those girls would establish I'm the No. 1 contender."

Penick's Analysis: Some of the drama with Rousey into the December event was really self-induced by Tate, but regardless of all that happened there, it's got to be refreshing to have a change of pace. Tate and Rousey were going strong for a solid six months after filming early last summer, so now she gets a fight with Carmouche without any of that at all. Now, it probably won't have much of an effect one way or the other here, as this fight is simply about whether or not she's better than Carmouche. She needs to go out and prove that, and if she does it will be the first step in getting back to a second UFC Title fight.