I don't frequently watch women's MMA but the Rousey vs Tate match last night was pretty impressive. I think it will help a lot to move women's MMA forward and gain popularity. They built up a lot of tension before the fight with trash talking and the head-butt stunt during the weigh in. Both competitors had good striking and grappling. Miesha Tate got Rousey's back at one point while Rousey got several attempts at armbars, finally ending the fight with an armbar.
It was clear that Tate did not have much respect for Rousey and didn't think that Rousey deserved an attempt at the title with only 4 wins under her belt. Because of Tate's ego and disrespect of Rousey, Tate tried to resist the final armbar for around 20 to 30 seconds. After the fight doctors rushed onto the matts to look at her arm because she stupidly tried to resist when she shouldn't have. What is the result? She still lost and now she won't be able to train for a few months. Don't let your ego get in the way of tapping when you should or you will end up getting hurt and missing out of training like Miesha Tate.
Another piece of evidence of Tate's disrespect-- I don't think she looked like she'd ever practiced any counters to judo throws. Very basic entry and grip for a very basic hip toss (Granted, performed by an Olympic medalist, so it's not EASY to counter) but the most basic counter (push your hips forward into them) wasn't even attempted.
ReplyDeleteDid Tate really think she'd just punch her to death? She wasn't even TRYING to maintain a "safe" (punching and kicking, but not getting tossed) distance.