Miesha Theresa Tate was born on August 18, 1986, in Tacoma, Washington. She was born to her parents Michelle Tate and Robert Schmidt. When she was younger, she was a tomboy who often played on the playgrounds in her neighborhood with the guys.
Tate looked for a sport to play while attending Franklin Pierce High School and ultimately decided on amateur wrestling over basketball. From her first year till her graduation, she competed in wrestling for the guys’ squad. She participated in the girls’ state championship during her senior year in 2005 and won first place.
During her time at Central Washington University, Tate was persuaded by a friend to join her at the mixed martial arts club. Tate recalled: “I went there, and it really was a bunch of wrestlers. I fit right in.”
Tate said that she was originally hesitant to participate in MMA because she “didn’t want to get punched.” Tate was inspired to accept her first amateur combat in March 2006 after seeing the performance of her training companions in a live competition. She amassed a 5–1 amateur record in MMA before turning pro.
At the one-night HOOKnSHOOT Women’s Grand Prix in November 2007, Tate made her mixed martial arts professional debut. She won against Jan Finney by decision. But later that evening, she was defeated by Kaitlin Young.
In June 2008, Tate made his MMA debut with Strikeforce. At Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Thomson, Tate beat Elaina Maxwell by unanimous decision in the 135-pound bantamweight division.
Tate competed against Zoila Gurgel in March 2010 at Strikeforce Challengers: Johnson vs. Mahe after taking a break to defend her FCF championship in January 2010. In the second round, Tate submitted Gurgel via armbar to win the bout.
In July 2011, Tate faced Marloes Coenen for the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship. Coenen was well-known for her jiu-jitsu background and had never lost a mixed martial arts fight through submission. Tate won the match against Coenen via arm-triangle choke submission in the fourth round to become the new champion.
It was anticipated that Sarah Kaufman would be Tate’s first opponent in a championship defence. But Ronda Rousey promised to compete against Kaufman for the top contender spot in hopes of facing Tate for the championship. In March 2012, Tate and Rousey competed at the Strikeforce event. At the time, it was unusual for women to compete in the main event of an MMA night.
Soon after the bout started, Tate managed to get out of Rousey’s first attempt at an armbar and returned the attack with blows. Rousey attempted a second armbar at the conclusion of the first round, forcing Tate to surrender after a back-and-forth match.
In August 2012, Tate competed against Julie Kedzie at Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman. In the third round, she submitted Kedzie with an armbar that ended the bout.
Miesha Tate officially joined the UFC in February 2013 when Strikeforce went out of business. UFC president Dana White gave credit to her match with Ronda Rousey for introducing women’s MMA to the promotion. The UFC announced that she would compete against Cat Zingano at the TUF 17 finale.
Prior to the bout, it was made known that the victor of Tate vs. Zingano would face Rousey to become the first-ever UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion. Additionally, the winner will coach against Rousey on the 18th season of the UFC reality series TUF.
Miesha Tate won the first two rounds but was defeated by TKO in the third. Both women received a Fight of the Night bonus for the back-and-forth match. After sustaining a knee injury, Zingano withdrew as Rousey’s opponent and rival coach on May 28. Therefore, Tate was named in her stead.
Rousey stated her admiration for their rivalry and her respect for Tate’s combat sports skills before to their rematch. She said: “We have our definite disagreements, but I give her credit for what she’s done and where she’s got in the sport of women’s MMA. Without her, I don’t think we’d be as far so I do value that.”
In December 2013, UFC 168 hosted the rematch between the two. Rousey dominated the match, which was mainly one-sided in her favour. Tate survived two attempts at submission before succumbing to an armbar submission in the third round.
Tate competed against Jessica Eye in July 2015 at UFC on Fox: Dillashaw vs. Baro 2. Tate won the match via unanimous decision.
Rousey was beaten by Holly Holm on November 14, 2015, to win the UFC Bantamweight Championship. The UFC said in January 2016 that Tate would compete against Holm for her first championship defence. Tate beat Holm by a technical submission due to a rear-naked choke in the fifth round to win the new UFC Bantamweight Championship. Tate also received her first Performance of the Night bonus award thanks to the victory.
After Tate’s victory over Holm, UFC president Dana White revealed that Tate will face Ronda Rousey at an undetermined event later in 2016 for her championship defence. But Tate ended up facing Amanda Nunes at UFC 200 in July 2016. Nunes repeatedly struck Tate before defeating her via a rear-naked choke submission three minutes into the first round.
In November 2016, Tate faced Raquel Pennington in the UFC 205 main event. Tate said in advance that she would be taking a break from MMA after the match. Tate declared her retirement from mixed martial arts after losing to Pennington by unanimous decision.
On November 7, 2018, it was announced that Tate joined as the vice president of ONE Championship. She quit her job in 2021 in order to return to MMA.
In March 2021, Tate made the announcement that she would be making a comeback to participate in MMA in July 2021. She competed against Marion Reneau and ended up winning the match via TKO in the third round. She received her second Performance of the Night award in her UFC career thanks to her victory.
Tate was a part of the renowned mixed martial arts documentary ‘Fight Life’. There is a segment about Tate and her lover Bryan Caraway in the DVD extras for the movie. Additionally, Tate appears in the video game EA Sports UFC as a playable character.
Tate joined the cast of the 2015 movie ‘Fight Valley’, which follows female combatants in an underground fight club.
Miesha Tate appeared in the 2013 ESPN Body Issue. where she was labelled “the most beautiful woman in MMA.”
Tate and Renee Paquette co-host the Sirius XM programme ‘Throwing Down With Renee and Miesha.’ Tate was also the winner of Celebrity Big Brother in 2022.
Tate revealed that she was dating fellow MMA competitor Johnny Nuñez on January 1st, 2018. She gave birth to their daughter Amaia Nevaeh Nuñez on June 4, 2018. Tate shared the news that she was expecting their second child in December 2019. She gave birth to their son Daxton Wylder Nuñez in June 2020.
