Miesha Tate

Miesha Theresa Tate is an American professional mixed martial artist who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women's Bantamweight division. A former UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion and Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion, she has also served as a vice president for ONE Championship.

Born on August 18, 1986, in Tacoma, Washington, Tate was raised by her mother, Michelle Tate, and Robert Schmidt. While attending Franklin Pierce High School, she competed on the boys' amateur wrestling team from her freshman year through graduation, winning the girls' state championship title in her senior year in 2005. She was later introduced to mixed martial arts (MMA) while attending Central Washington University after joining a campus MMA club.

Tate began her amateur MMA career in March 2006, building a 5–1 amateur record before making her professional debut in November 2007 at the HOOKnSHOOT Women's Grand Prix. Competing in various regional promotions, she captured the Freestyle Cage Fighting (FCF) Women's Bantamweight Championship in April 2009 by defeating Liz Carreiro. She successfully defended the title once against Valerie Coolbaugh in January 2010.

Tate made her Strikeforce debut in June 2008. In August 2010, she won a one-night Strikeforce tournament by defeating Maiju Kujala and Hitomi Akano. She went on to challenge Marloes Coenen for the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Championship on July 30, 2011, winning the belt via fourth-round submission. Tate lost the title to Ronda Rousey in March 2012, after which she bounced back with a victory over Julie Kedzie.

In February 2013, Tate signed with the UFC. After competing against Cat Zingano and facing Rousey in a championship rematch at UFC 168, Tate earned consecutive victories over Liz Carmouche, Rin Nakai, Sara McMann, and Jessica Eye. On March 5, 2016, at UFC 196, Tate defeated Holly Holm via fifth-round technical submission to capture the UFC Bantamweight Championship and earn a Performance of the Night bonus. She lost the belt to Amanda Nunes at UFC 200 in July 2016.

Following a loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205 in November 2016, Tate announced her retirement from MMA competition. She joined ONE Championship as Vice President in November 2018, serving in the position until 2021 when she relinquished the role to return to the UFC. Tate returned to the Octagon in July 2021 with a TKO victory over Marion Reneau, earning a Performance of the Night award. After facing Ketlen Vieira in November 2021, she was scheduled to move to the flyweight division to fight Lauren Murphy in May 2022.