Re-watching the rematch between Ronda Rousey & Miesha Tate and I realize that either Miesha's delusional thinking attracts like-minded people, or she got that way because her cornermen are out of their minds giving her unrealistic advice.
Recently Daniel Cormier said that Bryan Caraway has a "great grasp of MMA" but you can't tell that by what he was telling Tate in between rounds.
After Miesha got lit up by Ronda (and taken town twice with Judo throws) Caraway was yelling "She's already breaking... she's already breaking!" which was crazy if you look at what actually happened. Maybe that was why Tate started Round 2 smiling, because she believed what she was being told.
Then after 4 more Judo throw takedowns (contrary to what Joe Rogan says in the post fight commentary it wasn't "the same throw over & over" Ronda used 4 different throws in this fight) and Ronda dominating the striking Tate's corner told her she was "out-striking" Rousey and that "she used up everything she has, she's done!" and if you look at the fight metrics that was not true about Miesha out-striking Ronda, let alone that Ronda was gassed out.
The proof that Tate's corner was wrong about Ronda's cardio or being "done" was how quickly Ronda was able to get Miesha on the Octagon floor and secure the armbar submission win.
If you look at the fight metrics for the entire fight, Ronda had more total strikes, more significant strikes, more takedowns/knockdowns, more submission attempts, and more time controlling Miesha on the mat.
In no category did Tate has a positive advantage over Rousey. And if you look at the faces of both fighters after the fight at the post-fight press conference Miesha looks like she was in a bad car wreck while Ronda looked fresh and ready to fight again.
Ronda took several up-kicks to the face as well as some unblocked punches, yet at no time was she in serious danger of being knocked out.
And if you needed more proof that Tate wasn't having a realistic view of her performance, listen to the post-fight interview with Rogan where she tried to discredit Ronda's beating of her by saying "she worked on her right SOME" and that "she was the better fighter TONIGHT" - which means she didn't believe what she was saying, but she said it so people didn't think badly of her.
In the post-fight press conference she expands on those concepts & says Ronda allows Miesha to realize how strong she really is... when she should have been seeing it as proof of how mismatched these fighters were/are.
That delusional thinking from Tate is why she thinks she has a chance against Ronda. Miesha's flawed thinking that her wrestling can not only negate Ronda's Judo, but that it can defeat her... when in reality Ronda was using Miesha's over-use of wrestling to her advantage by the MANY Judo techniques she used to take Tate down at will.
Until/unless Tate get realistic in how far apart her & Ronda really are talent-wise she has NO CHANCE of seriously challenging the champion.
Miesha thinks she took Ronda farther than anyone else has... when in truth she SURVIVED longer than anyone else did. Round 1 could have been a 10 -8 round for Rousey... Round 2 definitely was a 10 - 8 in my opinion. It is possible that Miesha was down 20 - 16 going into that 3rd round when her corner was having her think that she might actually be ahead in scoring and in place to win the fight.
Bottom line, as long as Tate thinks the way she does she won't be able to identify all the things she does wrong when fighting Ronda. The sloppy technique that she can get away with when fighting other opponents doesn't work when she is in the Octagon with the most dominant fighter/champion the UFC has.
Even if Miesha is correct in thinking she is the next best fighter after Ronda, that doesn't mean she is in Ronda's league.
Saturday night after Ronda KO'd Bethe Correia in 34 seconds Miesha tweeted "I guarantee that she won't do that to me" - which shows that she still isn't looking at Rousey realistically, especially based on the previous times they faced each other. This is part of why Miesha won't win if she can't be realistic in how she matches up against Rousey.
Miesha would be better off getting rid of the people who can't be HONEST with her and how well/badly she is doing so that she can improve what is wrong and try to get better.
That is her only hope because Tate's time is running out. She is not going to get a 4th chance at Ronda... so this next title shot needs to be done PERFECTLY or it will be a wasted effort.
Miesha needs to realize that it doesn't matter that she is working hard because Ronda is also working hard. The difference is that Ronda isn't just training to be the best in the world on her best day... she is training to be the best in the world on her worst day. Tate needs to understand that Ronda is training so that even if her opponent does everything perfectly, it isn't going to be good enough for them to defeat her.
That is a near impossible thing to overcome. Not totally impossible... but a major hurdle for Tate is this delusional thinking when it comes to her & Ronda.
I wish her the best... but I think her trying to rush this third chance at Ronda will only end with Tate losing to Rousey... again.
Recently Daniel Cormier said that Bryan Caraway has a "great grasp of MMA" but you can't tell that by what he was telling Tate in between rounds.
After Miesha got lit up by Ronda (and taken town twice with Judo throws) Caraway was yelling "She's already breaking... she's already breaking!" which was crazy if you look at what actually happened. Maybe that was why Tate started Round 2 smiling, because she believed what she was being told.
Then after 4 more Judo throw takedowns (contrary to what Joe Rogan says in the post fight commentary it wasn't "the same throw over & over" Ronda used 4 different throws in this fight) and Ronda dominating the striking Tate's corner told her she was "out-striking" Rousey and that "she used up everything she has, she's done!" and if you look at the fight metrics that was not true about Miesha out-striking Ronda, let alone that Ronda was gassed out.
The proof that Tate's corner was wrong about Ronda's cardio or being "done" was how quickly Ronda was able to get Miesha on the Octagon floor and secure the armbar submission win.
If you look at the fight metrics for the entire fight, Ronda had more total strikes, more significant strikes, more takedowns/knockdowns, more submission attempts, and more time controlling Miesha on the mat.
In no category did Tate has a positive advantage over Rousey. And if you look at the faces of both fighters after the fight at the post-fight press conference Miesha looks like she was in a bad car wreck while Ronda looked fresh and ready to fight again.
Ronda took several up-kicks to the face as well as some unblocked punches, yet at no time was she in serious danger of being knocked out.
And if you needed more proof that Tate wasn't having a realistic view of her performance, listen to the post-fight interview with Rogan where she tried to discredit Ronda's beating of her by saying "she worked on her right SOME" and that "she was the better fighter TONIGHT" - which means she didn't believe what she was saying, but she said it so people didn't think badly of her.
In the post-fight press conference she expands on those concepts & says Ronda allows Miesha to realize how strong she really is... when she should have been seeing it as proof of how mismatched these fighters were/are.
That delusional thinking from Tate is why she thinks she has a chance against Ronda. Miesha's flawed thinking that her wrestling can not only negate Ronda's Judo, but that it can defeat her... when in reality Ronda was using Miesha's over-use of wrestling to her advantage by the MANY Judo techniques she used to take Tate down at will.
Until/unless Tate get realistic in how far apart her & Ronda really are talent-wise she has NO CHANCE of seriously challenging the champion.
Miesha thinks she took Ronda farther than anyone else has... when in truth she SURVIVED longer than anyone else did. Round 1 could have been a 10 -8 round for Rousey... Round 2 definitely was a 10 - 8 in my opinion. It is possible that Miesha was down 20 - 16 going into that 3rd round when her corner was having her think that she might actually be ahead in scoring and in place to win the fight.
Bottom line, as long as Tate thinks the way she does she won't be able to identify all the things she does wrong when fighting Ronda. The sloppy technique that she can get away with when fighting other opponents doesn't work when she is in the Octagon with the most dominant fighter/champion the UFC has.
Even if Miesha is correct in thinking she is the next best fighter after Ronda, that doesn't mean she is in Ronda's league.
Saturday night after Ronda KO'd Bethe Correia in 34 seconds Miesha tweeted "I guarantee that she won't do that to me" - which shows that she still isn't looking at Rousey realistically, especially based on the previous times they faced each other. This is part of why Miesha won't win if she can't be realistic in how she matches up against Rousey.
Miesha would be better off getting rid of the people who can't be HONEST with her and how well/badly she is doing so that she can improve what is wrong and try to get better.
That is her only hope because Tate's time is running out. She is not going to get a 4th chance at Ronda... so this next title shot needs to be done PERFECTLY or it will be a wasted effort.
Miesha needs to realize that it doesn't matter that she is working hard because Ronda is also working hard. The difference is that Ronda isn't just training to be the best in the world on her best day... she is training to be the best in the world on her worst day. Tate needs to understand that Ronda is training so that even if her opponent does everything perfectly, it isn't going to be good enough for them to defeat her.
That is a near impossible thing to overcome. Not totally impossible... but a major hurdle for Tate is this delusional thinking when it comes to her & Ronda.
I wish her the best... but I think her trying to rush this third chance at Ronda will only end with Tate losing to Rousey... again.
