Correia is on the rise and is probably the biggest Brazilian star in the women's division at the moment - it makes perfect sense for Tate to position herself in front of her. There is money to be made there. Tate has a really strong 12-18 months in front of her. She could fight Zingano, McMann and Correia - all very big fights. And if she wins all of them (and she absolutely could), then she'd be guaranteed another title shot.
Of the three Bethe statistically at least is the easier win. And I say that only because she has less experience then the other two. What I anticipate is that unless Cat Zingano really ups her game considering her performance in her last fight which she won, but only after taking a serious pounding by Amanda Nunes she is going to be another Rousey "W". It's possible that it could of just been the ring rust. But she can't let Rousey have as much time as Nunes had or she will lose. Bethe is climbing the hype train right now from the "four horswoman" gimmick. Tate might be thinking that she wants to intercept that hype before it gets any bigger. I have heard a rumor that Sara has been having trouble finding people willing to fight her. As far as up the scale nobody above her in the rankings has anything to gain by fighting her. And everything to lose.
Correia is probably ahead in the queue for a title shot, so taking her down makes good strategic sense. Anyone in the bottom half of the top 10 should be gunning for McMann right now. If they're not, they should stop wasting their time and retire.
So it's on... Looks like this is going to happen. I kinda feel more excited for this then Anderson vs. Diaz. http://www.mmafighting.com/2014/11/12/7212405/miesha-tate-vs-sara-mcmann-set-for-ufc-183
Anderson vs Diaz is so stupid! Diaz has not even remotely earned the right to fight Silva. I don't particularly like either fighter, but I respect Silva. One of the few times I will be rooting for Silva.
Sorry, I don't follow MMA very closely so forgive me if this seems like a dumb question, but why do you say that?
Silva- considered by many to be the Greatest MMA fighter of all time. Always in the discussion of GOAT. Diaz, looked good in Strikeforce against lesser opponents, but only a so so record in the UFC. Only got a title fight because he ticked off GSP so badly GSP asked to fight him. Lost last couple of fights and wouldn't have won against Condit no matter what because he failed his drug test for smoking weed.
Yes, but before Weidman became his cryptonite, Silva was absolutely dominant for a long long time. Again, considered by many to be GOAT. He was so far above many opponents that he played with them in the ring. One of the reasons I don't like him, but no arguing how incredible a fighter he is/ was. One of the questions now is has age finally caught up with him?
I think with mma as a whole its been fairly unanimous that Fedor was always GOAT I'd also argue the level of competition he fought wasn't as good compared to, say, Aldo. But I really dislike Silva so I know I'm biased. I don't think the Diaz fight is awful though. It is very clearly a pick up for Silva and more of a ticket seller than a genuine fight to establish rankings but I'm looking forward to it.
