Bethe Correia wants to retire Miesha Tate: ‘I will make your wish come true, Miesha’
Miesha Tate was willing to retire after seeing Holly Holm leapfrog her and face Ronda Rousey for the UFC gold in Australia, and Bethe Correia wants to send "Cupcake" into retirement -- especially after their recent war on Twitter.
"I woke up and there’s a tweet from Miesha Tate saying I’m not the brightest bulb on the tree," Correia told MMAFighting.com, "and I thought to myself, Miesha is probably too bored, has nothing to do in her personal life and career, and she’s trying to throw her frustration into someone else. Ever since she was sidelined by the UFC and realized she won’t be fighting for the tile anytime soon, she lost her mind."
Correia hasn’t fought since losing to Rousey on Aug. 1, and Tate has won four in a row with decision victories over Liz Carmouche, Rin Nakai, Sara McMann and Jessica Eye after losing to Rousey a second time in 2013.
"She fought Ronda twice and lost twice. She got knocked out by Cat Zinzano. Why should she fight for the title again?" Correia asks. "I believe she should lose everything after such a childish behavior. She has shown she’s not ready for it, that she doesn’t respect the UFC.
"First of all, her wins weren’t even convincing. She has no knockout or submission in the UFC. Why is she saying she’s so more prepared than others?"
Correia also questions Tate’s desire to compete after her retirement comments.
"She said she’s so pissed off she’s willing to retire. Honestly, it was one of the most ridiculous things someone ever did in the UFC to bitch about a business decision by the promotion," Correia said. "Someone that really wants to make a career in MMA and fight for a title would never talk about retirement. You have to be hungry no matter what."
After watching Holm dethrone Rousey at UFC 193 with a vicious head-kick knockout, Tate changed tunes and asked to be the next in line for the gold instead of giving "Rowdy" an immediate rematch. Correia disagrees with that idea.
"We have a new champion now, so every girl that hasn’t fought Holly is at the same level right now," she said. "I’m not here to defend Ronda, but I’m fair, and she deserves an immediate rematch for everything she has done. But let’s say she doesn’t want that or can’t take this fight right now, so I think everyone has the same right.
"And I believe I deserve it more than Miesha because I want to become a champion, and I don’t go out there bitching about the UFC, putting Dana White against the wall, and saying I’ll retire. Dana White made the right call. It wasn’t her moment. Nobody wanted to see Miesha Tate get beat up again. Nobody wanted to see that."
Instead of booking Tate-Holm for the UFC gold, Correia suggests she faces "Cupcake" next.
"When I lost, Meisha said I never deserved a title fight, and called me a rookie," Correia said. "I told her to come fight me so I can show her what a rookie can do, but she never agreed to fight me because she thought she would be fighting Ronda next, and that never happened."
"The UFC is keeping her in the sidelines," she continued. "If they want me to go in there and retire Miesha, I will do my best to show the world this rookie has some knockout power and retire her. I will make your wish come true, Miesha. I can do this for you."