UFC president Dana White has revealed that Miesha Tate could have done damage to her career, if she would have been selected to face the defending UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey in the octagon later this year.
It was only in July that Rousey, currently billed as the best female mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter on the planet, had called for a third fight between her and Tate, prior to her bout against Bethe Correia in the main event of UFC 190.
Rousey, 28, stated that "if she's who the fans want to see, then I'm extremely interested in doing it".
Even the MMA fans around the world were lapping up the prospect of having the two beauties fight it out for the one last time, but White ultimately zeroed in on Holly Holm as Rousey's next opponent. Tate lost to Rousey on two occasions previously, and a third defeat, according to White, could have been a "career killer".
"She's [Tate's] lost to Ronda twice," White told 'UFC Tonight'.
"Holly Holm — WBC, WBA, WBF, IBA, you name it, she's won the belt in boxing, she's 9-0 in mixed martial arts. If you look at the range and the distance, the head kicks, all the attributes ... We originally brought Holly Holm into the UFC to fight Ronda Rousey. That fight makes sense.
"Miesha, at this point in her career, if she loses to Ronda Rousey a third time, it's a career killer," White said.
Rousey established herself as the armbar queen of UFC after recording both the victories over Tate - in March 2012 and December 2013 - through the submission. While the first battle was at Strikeforce, the second one took place at UFC 168.
However, Tate won her last four fights on the trot in two years, with the latest one being a unanimous victory over Jessica Eye in UFC on FOX 16 last July. Still, White feels Tate needs to register a couple of wins more to deserve a title shot.
"I know it seems like Miesha Tate got a bad break in this thing, but realistically when you look at it, Miesha has lost to her twice," White said. "Miesha's gonna have to knock a couple more people off to get to Ronda."
Rousey faces Holm at the main event of UFC 193 at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne on 14 November. She comes to the fight at the backdrop of a win against Correia, who she knocked out in 34 seconds of the first round at UFC 190.
