Watch Ronda Rousey Take Miesha Tate’s Arm Again at UFC 168

Without a doubt, Ronda Rousey’s biggest rivalry in her career was with fellow former Strikeforce alumni, Miesha Tate. As soon as Tate was signed to the UFC to fight Cat Zingano, it was no surprise the endgame would be to book a rematch with Rousey if Tate came out on top. Which is exactly what happened anyway, even though Tate lost her fight with Zingano.

It was a switch-up on The Ultimate Fighter 18 that left Rousey, well, even more “Rowdy” than usual. Tate ended up being a last minute substitute coach on the show due to Zingano injuring her ankle. The bad blood between the two fighters quickly boiled again, with the contestants and even significant others getting involved.

If the now-infamous ups and downs during the season weren’t enough, Rousey had more pressure on her in the lead-up to this fight five years ago than ever before. After the show wrapped, she flew off halfway around the world to Bulgaria to appear in Expendables 3, then back to the U.S. to film Fast & Furious 7. All before she could enter fight camp for UFC 168.

“It was tired. It was exhausting,” she said. “But that’s the kind of confidence you have to have to be the best in the world. You have to believe that if you take on an insane media schedule and are working so much more than your opponent to promote the fight, even though that’s a big disadvantage, you need to believe that you’re so much better that you can do all this stuff and win anyway.

“It’s a very audacious attitude, but the kind you have to have to be, not just a champion, but a champion that could really put butts in the seats and sell pay-per-views.” 

The rematch with Miesha Tate ended the same way the first fight  — and most of Ronda Rousey’s fights — ended: By flawless armbar. At 2-0, the rivalry that followed “Rowdy” Ronda for years seemed to be sealed up tight, although her refusing to shake Tate’s hand would be questioned during UFC 168’s fallout.   

“I still stand by what I did, and I feel like it means even more — that I would still stick by my principles even at a time like that when I would be criticized for it,” she said to the LA Daily News back in 2013. “I felt like people closest to me that had been insulted, it would be an insult to them if I took that hand without her ever giving an apology.”