Miesha Tate: Ronda Rousey Suicidal Thoughts ‘Big Sign of Mental Weakness’

UFC women’s 135-pound champion Miesha Tate says she interpreted Ronda Rousey’s admission of suicidal ideation after her loss to Holly Holm as a sign of “mental weakness.”

“I thought that was a big sign of mental weakness, to be honest,” Tate, who choked out Holm after Holm knocked out Rousey, told Sports Illustrated.

Tate defeated Holm for the belt at UFC 197. Rousey infamously refused to take Tate’s extended hand after her third-round submission victory over Cupcake in their UFC 168 rematch and Tate infamously cheered boisterously in a Las Vegas bar when Holm knocked out Rousey.

The women dislike each other. Tate’s comments likely heightens the intensity, as Rousey’s father took his own life and criticism over the subject understandably strikes Rowdy as beyond fair play.

“I’ve been down and out in this sport, too, obviously losing my fight to Ronda,” Tate told SI. “That was really, really hard for me. But my mindset is to get back in the gym and get better, get stronger and learn from it and come back, and now here I am with the world title.”

The pair likely tangle for a third time later this year when Rousey returns to the sport after resting and acting in the wake of her devastating defeat to Holm in November.

“It makes me wonder what kind of a fighter will return when Ronda,” the current champ confessed, “if Ronda, does return.”