Miesha Tate isn't looking passed Amanda Nunes, but she does have a familiar future opponent on her mind.
"Cupcake" is 0-2 in her career against Ronda Rousey, but now that she's the reigning UFC women's bantamweight champion, she'd love to face "Rowdy" one more time.
Tate recently addressed the possibility of facing Rousey again down the line and revealed she believes that's what the UFC would want if she's still holding the title. Tate also said she believes Rousey deserves a chance to battle her for the gold.
"I could make an argument why she would deserve a title fight on her first fight back," Tate told TMZ Sports. "It just kind of depends how long she's out for. I mean, nobody can take away what she's accomplished. It's been amazing and I feel like if she wanted the title fight off the bat, there's definitely a great argument that can be made for that."
Tate lost to Rousey via armbar submission at UFC 168 in December 2013 and fell to her again in the same capacity at Strikeforce in March 2013. The reigning champion has a battle against Nunes slated for UFC 200 on July 9 in Las Vegas, but hopes to defeat her and eventually move on to Rousey.
"I feel like something would be missing from my career if I didn't fight Ronda again," Tate said. "Yeah, definitely. But right now, that's really far off, and I don't know even if she's gonna come back. So, I'm just keeping my focus on Amanda and I think it would be a huge mistake to overlook her."
Rousey hasn't fought since she dropped her title to Holly Holm at UFC 193 last November, marking her first defeat in the UFC and ending her 1,074-day reign as title-holder. "Rowdy" hasn't fought since then and after taking a lengthy hiatus to get things back in order, she has been training for a potential return.
Holm went on to lose the belt to Tate at UFC 196 in March in her first defense.
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