Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Pound-for-Pound Women

9. Miesha Tate

Of all the top 10 lists we've done so far, which have included all the men's divisional rankings, and plenty of choices that I strongly disagree with, this is by far my least favorite inclusion. There is absolutely no argument for Tate to be on this list based on her accomplishments, and it's ridiculous that she is in the top 10 while Weili Zhang, Jessica Andrade, Germaine de Randamie and Julia Budd, among others, are not. I doubt I would even include her if the list was expanded to 15. Sure, if this was “The 10 Biggest WMMA Stars Ever,” Tate would merit a spot. But that's not what the list is, or else Gina Carano would be a shoo-in for the top 3. Tate was a good wrestler who eventually developed a moderate amount of striking, and had a notable weakness with her jiu-jitsu. She lost her pro debut to Kaitlin Young, won six in a row against middling opposition and then lost via decision to Sarah Kaufman in Strikeforce. Tate then won another half dozen in a row, with the only one of note being a late finish of Marloes Coenen. Tate then faced her nemesis Ronda Rousey, who easily submitted her in the first round. She then joined the UFC, and after submitting Julie Kedzie, was brutally knocked out in the clinch by Cat Zingano. Zingano was scheduled to coach against Rousey on the 18th season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and challenge her for the UFC women's bantamweight crown, but since she came down with injury, the popular and telegenic Tate replaced her. Tate was a far better coach, but when they fought again, Rousey still dominated and finished her in the third round.

Many counted Tate out as a serious contender at that point, but she embarked on the best stretch of her career. She went 4-0 against good opponents, winning a very close majority decision over Sara McMann and a verdict against Liz Carmouche that could have gone either way. This earned her a title shot against Holly Holm, the new undefeated champion who had dethroned Rousey. After clearly losing three of the first four rounds, Tate scored a very clutch, late 5th round submission to win the title. Without this triumph, I doubt Tate would even make anyone's Top 25 list. In her first title defense, Tate was thoroughly dominated and submitted by Amanda Nunes in a one-round demolition, then lost every round to Raquel Pennington. After that loss, despite being only 30 years old, she retired. After having two kids, Tate returned at 34, but other than a ground-and-pound stoppage of 44 year-old Marion Reneau, has failed to make a big impression, losing decisions to Ketlen Vieira and then the nearly 39-year-old Lauren Murphy, who, similar to Pennington before, won every round. As noted, Tate's inclusion here is solely based on the win over Holm. Her only two other wins of any significance for such a list were a decision over Carmouche, which, as noted, could have gone the other way, and the stoppage of Coenen in 2011, whose style was thoroughly obsolete by then. (Coenen had even lost to a very early, non-prime version of Roxanne Modafferi in 2007) Tate also has multiple one-sided losses in her prime to fighters that we don't consider anywhere close to this list, like Raquel Pennington and Cat Zingano. Again, this is the worst inclusion on any of these lists.

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