UFC women’s bantamweight contender Miesha Tate described the moment UFC president Dana White told her she’d be a coach on The Ultimate Fighter as one of the happiest of her life.
Earlier this week is was announced that Tate would replace Cat Zingano and coach opposite her biggest rival, UFC’s women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, on TUF 18 after Zingano injured her knee and required surgery. Tate will then fight Rousey for the title late in 2013.
Tate was taken aback when White told her the UFC’s plans.
“I was running meaningless errands, driving around in my car and Dana White pops up on my phone and I’m like, ‘oh my gosh!’ I always get a little bit nervous whenever Dana calls me because I figure it’s going to be something worth him calling me over,” Tate told UFC Central Radio on Sportsnet 590 The Fan late Thursday.
White didn’t want to give her the news over the phone so the UFC flew Tate out from Washington to Las Vegas to talk to White in person.
“Word for word, he sat me down — and I don’t know if it’s good news or bad news at this point; I was just praying with my fingers and my toes crossed that it was good news — and he goes: ‘I wanted to sit you down, talk to you face to face and tell you so you know how serious I am.’ … and I thought ‘oh crap, this is bad, this is going to be bad news,’ I’m totally nervous at that point.
“And then he goes, ‘How would you like to coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter?’ I freaked out and I was so excited. It was definitely one of the happiest days of my life. I can’t really put words to it. It all happened so fast it hasn’t even fully set in.”
Latest episode of UFC Central Radio with Miesha Tate and Roy Nelson
Filming for TUF 18 is already underway — the series debuts on Sept. 4 — and Tate explained that surprisingly her and Rousey have yet to butt heads, although she expects that could change any minute.
“As far as Ronda and I go, so far it’s been alright, but I’m sure there’s going to be some moments where some drama is going to happen or whatnot, but as of right now she seemed pretty cool towards me and I’ve been alright towards her,” Tate explained.
Tate has brought in her boyfriend Bryan Caraway — a rising UFC bantamweight that has been her MMA coach for her entire career dating back to 2007 – as one of her lead coaches and since Rousey has voiced her dislike of Caraway it could potentially cause some drama on the show.
“Obviously she has it out for Bryan; I don’t know what the deal is. She’s just ribbing him in the public eye whenever she can,” Tate said.
“She’s never really the one to say something to your face. She lets it dribble down through the media, but I don’t know what to expect, I really don’t. I’m going to wait and see and let her make the first move because I’m not really there to start (a conflict).”
In addition to Caraway, Tate’s coaching staff includes her strength and conditioning coach Eric Triliegi, who also helps with her nutrition. Tate believes Triliegi will big a big help when it comes to helping the girls on Tate’s team cut weight – since Tate says it’s more difficult for female fighters to cut weight.
World champion submission wrestler Ricky Lundell, who has helped out on a few previous seasons of TUF, plus former Team Alpha Male’s lead striking coach Thonglor “Master Thong” Armatsena were also brought in by Tate.
Tate and Rousey previously fought in Strikeforce in March 2012 in arguably the most talked-about fights in women’s MMA history. Tate, who was the Strikeforce champion at the time, submitted Rousey with an armbar that dislocated Tate’s elbow.
