They say time heals all wounds, but Miesha Tate doesn't entirely jazz with the sentiment in those words. At least when it comes to potentially making nice with her longtime, and bitter rival Ronda Rousey now that it appears as if both are done fighting.
 
The former women's bantamweight champion under the Strikeforce banner and UFC superstar turned fallen icon engaged in one of the most heated feuds in mixed martial arts history. Tate was the sitting titleholder and an up-and-coming Rousey put a target square on her back.
 
This led to a Rousey victory that not only set about defining her starpower, but led to UFC President Dana White opening doors to the UFC for women fighting at 135 pounds--doors he swore would never be opened.
 
The two would eventually be slated as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter and square off once more under the UFC banner, but it was more of the same with Rousey's hand being raised once more.  And while Tate and Rousey would go onto have more battles and high profile tilts with other divisional notables before their respective rough patches led both to walk away from the sport either officially or taking a hiatus, a potential trilogy fight has never left the Washington state native's mind.
 
In fact, in a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Tate revealed the chance to step into the Octagon for one more go at Rousey would be the only matchup she'd find appealing enough to don the four ounce gloves again.


March 3, 2012; Columbus, OH, USA; Ronda Rousey gets Miesha Tate in an armbar during the Strikeforce Grand Prix final at Nationwide Arena. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-USA TODAY Sports 

"That was the fight that I was hopefully working toward, and it didn't come to fruition again. But it almost did," Tate said. "When Holly Holm fought Ronda Rousey, that was actually supposed to be my fight. I was preparing for that, and it didn't work out for me, but it did for Holly. And obviously all of that unfolded, and I beat Holly, and it is what it is. But I was ready and prepared in my mind that a third fight with Ronda Rousey was going to happen.

"So it's kind of always something that just stuck with me, that it was meant to happen. At this point, I highly doubt that can ever come to fruition. I know that she's engaged to Travis, and she probably wants to start a family. Who knows if she wants to return? And I certainly have no desire to want to return."

Although a third fight in the future is unlikely to happen, Tate believes the path traveled in their past is responsible for a lot more than wins or losses. In a sport dominated by their male counterparts, the rivalry between Tate and Rousey was a fixture on headlines around the MMA media sphere and eventually grew big enough to land the coveted TUF coaching roles.
 
And while Rousey is often credited as the reason women are competing in the UFC today, Tate knows it wasn't a one woman show that made it happen. It takes two fighters to make something memorable, and it helps the first clash between them was so much more than just a fight.
 
Their initial showdown in Columbus, OH was supposed to settle a feud straight away, instead it turned into a fight that brought a mega-watt spotlight to a much deserving side of the sport that continues to shine brightly across three weight classes.


Dec 28, 2013; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Ronda Rousey (red gloves) and Miesha Tate (blue gloves) during their UFC Women's Bantamweight Championship Bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Ronda Rousey won Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports 

"In hindsight, I definitely feel like it was a good thing," Tate said. "I feel like I was blessed to have a rival like Ronda Rousey. Because, without the two of us, there wasn't enough. She wasn't enough by herself, and I wasn't enough, definitely, by myself.

"It was the two of us together, our fight in Strikeforce, that made Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta say, 'Wow, OK, maybe the UFC can have a women's division, because these two were competitive.'"

Tate's loss to Raquel Pennington at Madison Square Garden prompted her retirement and Rousey taking a drubbing at the hands of Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 brought about her exit from MMA a few months later. Both are reportedly moving onto other aspects of their lives and careers, and their respective paths should hold bright futures.

And with that being the case there is always the chance of Tate and Rousey being able to find common ground on what they were able to accomplish together inside the cage and on the larger landscape as well, but that isn't something the Xtreme Couture fighter ever sees happening.

Tate believes the personality differences between the two are simply too vast and can't imagine a day where her and her rival see eye to eye. And that's just fine in Tate's book. She'll forever hold respect for Rousey as an athlete and fighter, but playing nice with "The Rowdy" one will never materialize.

"We're just completely different people," Tate said. "She is who she is, I am who I am. I doubt that we'll ever probably see eye-to-eye on much. And that's OK. You don't have to like everyone. There's billions and billions of people on this planet. I don't have to like every single one of them.

"I'm perfectly OK with not liking Ronda Rousey as a person. I respect her tremendously as an athlete. I think she's great. As a person, not so much. We're not going to be having coffee at Starbucks any time soon.

"We just never, never, never got along. Who's to say if it had been under completely different circumstances. Maybe if we had been teammates or trained together -- maybe. But that's long gone. That's never going to happen."

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