Miesha Tate (18-7-0), a former female world champion bantamweight in multiple organizations, announced her retirement at the aftermath of her bout at New York’s UFC 205.
Tate suffered a tough unanimous decision loss to her TUF 18 student Raquel Pennington (9-5-0). But what I will remember most is the professionalism Tate showed after the fight.
Much respect to @MieshaTate keep ur head up and ur heart strong! Thanks for the fight and the words we shared in this moment. #sportsmanship pic.twitter.com/60sXkE0bN7
— Raquel Pennington (@RockyPMMA) November 13, 2016
Tate didn’t have to do that. But in doing it genuinely, she passed the torch not only to Pennington, but to the current generation of bantamweight and strawweights we’re seeing. Let’s hope they take it and run with it the same way Tate did.
I hope the UFC hires Tate as a UFC analyst. She’s done it before in spots with Invicta FC and her knowledge, strong opinions and natural charisma makes her a perfect fit in my view.
As for Pennington, this is a big win, but it only gets harder from here. She said after the fight that she’s finally cleared her head mentally, a key problem that was holding her back. Let’s see what “Rocky” can do against a Cat Zingano, Valentina Shevchenko, or Julianna Pena.
Liz Carmouche (11-5-0) made history as the first MMA fighter to win at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Carmouche overcame a late comeback from Katlyn Chookagian (8-1-0) in the first bout of the evening.
Big thanks to everyone that has supported and help make this possible. #ufc205 #10thplanetjjsandiego #sdca pic.twitter.com/oIH3oZF9ji
— LIZ CARMOUCHE (@iamgirlrilla) November 13, 2016
Carmouche was also involved in the first UFC women’s title bout back in 2013, losing to Ronda Rousey at UFC 158, after a spirited neck crank came up just short.
https://twitter.com/Armenia_MMA/status/797702302467522560
Joanna Jedrzejczyk (13-0-0) grinded out another successful title defence over her colleague Karolina Kowalkiewicz (10-1-0) at UFC 205, but I wonder about the last two rounds of the fight.
https://twitter.com/joannamma/status/798483697565630464
Karolina gained some confidence there and had a moment where she had a chance to finish. They were much more competitive than the first three, and Kowalkiewicz even broke Jedrzejczyk’s nose.
— KarolinaKowalkiewicz (@KarolinaMMA) November 12, 2016
That’s three (3) straight competitive championship performances by her opponents. The JJ puzzle while not solved yet, is being put together piece by piece.
Thanks to Wombat Sports’ MarQ P for these.
#ICYMI @DandoisCindy won her fight Friday at Conquest of the Cage def. Anjela Pink by scarf choke hold in 13 seconds #wmma
— MarQ P (@WMMANews) November 13, 2016
Just announced Rin Nakai faces @charthemachine at #Pancrase282 this weekend will air on UFC Fight Pass #wmma
— MarQ P (@WMMANews) November 11, 2016
Take a deep breath …
Enjoy your day guyss #wmma #mma #krush #andthenew #champion #believe #blessed pic.twitter.com/9I2Q9sQV1d
— Mellony Geugjes (@mgeugjes) November 15, 2016
Because we have Invicta FC 20 next week!
Bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger (18-5-0) defends against Yana Kuntskaya (9-2-0), while strawweight champ Angela Hill (9-4-0) takes on Kaline Medeiros (8-4-0).
The rest of the lineup includes.
Herica Tiburico (9-4-0) vs Simona Soukupova (5-4-1)
Amber Brown (6-2-0) vs Ashley Yoder (4-1-0)
Jessica-Rose Clark (6-2-0) vs Pam Sorenson (4-1-0)
Lynn Alvarez (8-4-0) JJ Aldrich (3-1-0)
Stephanie Egger (2-0-0) vs Alexa Conners (0-1-0)
Miranda Maverick (0-0-0) vs Samantha Diaz (0-0-0)
Fight week! Inside the @InvictaFights 20 hotel. Athletes are going to have some fun. pic.twitter.com/PmLkHFJmzA
— Shannon Knapp (@shanknapp) November 14, 2016
This Saturday at Belfast’s UFC Fight Night 99, Anna Elmose (3-1-0) of Denmark takes on TUF 23’s Amanda Bobby Cooper (2-2-0).
Look for predictions for Invicta FC 20 later this week here on MMA Crossfire.
https://twitter.com/iDetailvaleting/status/797924355816624128
Follow:
Amanda Bobby Cooper – @ABCNation115
See you next week!