Miesha Tate ‘very frustrated with the UFC’ after Ronda Rousey trilogy fight snub

Miesha Tate is fed up with the UFC.

After defeating Jessica Eye in July at UFC on FOX, “Cupcake” solidified a title shot against bantamweight kingpin Ronda Rousey.

Unfortunately, those were just assurances made by UFC president Dana White, and none of those guarantees were in writing.

Shortly after being promised the fight with Rousey, news broke that the champ would instead be fighting No. 8 ranked Holly Holm at UFC 193 in November.

White would later say that he booked Holm vs. Rousey to save Tate from “killing her career.“

At first, Tate was in shock. Then she was sad. Now, after having a few weeks for the news to digest, she’s straight-up angry.

“I’m very frustrated with the UFC,” admitted Tate in an interview with Ground & Pound TV. “I’m not in a position where I feel like I need to be pushed around and, ‘Oh, you take this fight, take that fight.’ It makes no sense to me why I’m not the champion and yet I’m fighting all the No. 1 contenders. Amanda Nunes is ranked No. 4 and Holm is ranked No. 8.

“What is wrong with that picture? I’m not the champion and I’m fighting better girls than the champion is fighting and I’m not getting paid what the champion is getting paid. That is the champion’s job: to fight the best girls in the world. When I’m the champion, we’ll talk.”

Tate racked up four consecutive victories since that Rousey loss back on Dec. 28, 2013, at UFC 168. Since that second loss to the champ (Rousey also defeated Tate back in 2012 at a Strikeforce event), Tate has beaten former title contenders Liz Carmouche and Sara McMann, along with Rin Nakai, and Eye.

These stellar wins earned her the No. 1 contender’s spot on the official UFC rankings. This, coupled with White’s promise, had Tate preparing for Rousey almost immediately after dispatching of Eye.

Now, with her title aspirations put on hold, and forgotten promises still weighing on her mind, Tate has learned a valuable lesson: Get everything in writing from now on.

“More things are going to have to be contractually agreed upon, instead of verbally,” she said. “That’s just what happens when you can’t come to a verbal trust point. I’m going to have things just written down from now on.”

‘From now on’ is much less clear for Tate. With four consecutive wins over top opponents, and an official No. 1 contender label to go along with it, Tate is in fighter purgatory.

She doesn’t know what fight she will take next, and she isn’t sure she’ll ever get the chance to fight her arch-nemesis again.

What she does know, however, is that she is done being complacent and she is through with staying silent.

“I’m just in an awkward stage of my career,” Tate said. “I don’t know what the next best step for me is but I do know I’m not going to be pushed around by anybody.”

Words of a true fighter.

– – – – – – –

Ryan McKinnell is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports Cagewriter blog. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!