Miesha Tate

So there's a little bit of like, you know, opportunity in those somewhat smaller weight class, I think for the females to be competitive for longer.

So there's a little bit of like, you know, opportunity in those somewhat smaller weight class, I think for the females to be competitive for longer.

generally speaking um but we actually got to wrestle during the break of the men's state tournament at the Tacoma Dome in a round robin tournament round robin and I remember it was my junior year and I was so excited and I was you know still wrestling but wrestling with the better guys because after like regionals and um divisionals and those things the team starts to get smaller basically the guys that aren't

generally speaking um but we actually got to wrestle during the break of the men's state tournament at the Tacoma Dome in a round robin tournament round robin and I remember it was my junior year and I was so excited and I was you know still wrestling but wrestling with the better guys because after like regionals and um divisionals and those things the team starts to get smaller basically the guys that aren't

still continuing on to state leave the team and um their season is over so not really in the practice room anyways i ended up breaking my ankle or having my ankle broken should i say

still continuing on to state leave the team and um their season is over so not really in the practice room anyways i ended up breaking my ankle or having my ankle broken should i say

I didn't break it um so I didn't get to wrestle my my junior year thankfully I got a chance at redemption my senior year and which I did um win the the tournament which you know it feels like you can say that you won state or whatever but it's not quite as grand as what the guys are doing but for the women at that time that was you know the Mount Everest uh you know for us so

I didn't break it um so I didn't get to wrestle my my junior year thankfully I got a chance at redemption my senior year and which I did um win the the tournament which you know it feels like you can say that you won state or whatever but it's not quite as grand as what the guys are doing but for the women at that time that was you know the Mount Everest uh you know for us so

I did cross country and track as well. So a lot of running sports. And my biggest accomplishment... I still would say was the Coach's Award. It was because at that time, I had not really set my sights on winning that much because I mostly didn't win when I competed against guys. The winning or not winning wasn't my primary focus. It was being the best that I could be.

I did cross country and track as well. So a lot of running sports. And my biggest accomplishment... I still would say was the Coach's Award. It was because at that time, I had not really set my sights on winning that much because I mostly didn't win when I competed against guys. The winning or not winning wasn't my primary focus. It was being the best that I could be.

And I realized that I could change other people's perception of me if I just worked hard. I didn't segregate myself and I showed up every day and treated myself as an equal. And that was such a valuable lesson to learn. I really think it's the reason why I got into the UFC. Because I remember at one point Dana White was...

And I realized that I could change other people's perception of me if I just worked hard. I didn't segregate myself and I showed up every day and treated myself as an equal. And that was such a valuable lesson to learn. I really think it's the reason why I got into the UFC. Because I remember at one point Dana White was...

on any microphone that was asking him if women would ever be in the UFC and he was like no very adamant and I remember at that time thinking but you haven't seen me fight yet and I only have that kind of confidence because of wrestling and I knew that if he ever got a chance to see me fight that I had a really high chance of changing his mind

on any microphone that was asking him if women would ever be in the UFC and he was like no very adamant and I remember at that time thinking but you haven't seen me fight yet and I only have that kind of confidence because of wrestling and I knew that if he ever got a chance to see me fight that I had a really high chance of changing his mind

Because I knew that I worked hard and I knew that because I worked hard, I was talented and I could win fights and I could make them exciting, which I believe were all the things that he was looking for to check the box. And, you know, lo and behold, some years later, it's kind of exactly how it worked out.

Because I knew that I worked hard and I knew that because I worked hard, I was talented and I could win fights and I could make them exciting, which I believe were all the things that he was looking for to check the box. And, you know, lo and behold, some years later, it's kind of exactly how it worked out.

No, absolutely not. I loved every second of wrestling. It was the most difficult thing I had ever done in my young 15 years. And even by the time that I graduated, I lived my entire year waiting for wrestling season to come back around. You know, I think had I known more, I probably would have tried to do some wrestling camps or things like that on the off season. But I

No, absolutely not. I loved every second of wrestling. It was the most difficult thing I had ever done in my young 15 years. And even by the time that I graduated, I lived my entire year waiting for wrestling season to come back around. You know, I think had I known more, I probably would have tried to do some wrestling camps or things like that on the off season. But I

I didn't, I just didn't have that kind of family know-how or, you know, support in that way because we didn't come from that background. Choosing to wrestle as a girl was very odd and it didn't, my dad didn't like it at all. So it really wasn't going to get any extra support. So it wasn't something that I really was able to focus on. the other three quarters of the year.

I didn't, I just didn't have that kind of family know-how or, you know, support in that way because we didn't come from that background. Choosing to wrestle as a girl was very odd and it didn't, my dad didn't like it at all. So it really wasn't going to get any extra support. So it wasn't something that I really was able to focus on. the other three quarters of the year.