UFC women's star Miesha Tate to drop green flag at NASCAR race
That new management company is paying dividends for Miesha Tate.
First, the UFC women's bantamweight star procured a Budweiser sponsorship. Now, she's getting the chance to drop the green flag at the first NASCAR race she has ever attended. Tate will assume the duty at Martinsville Speedway for the start of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Goody's Headache Relief Shot 500 on Oct. 26 in Ridgeway, Va., NASCAR announced Wednesday.
"I have had the opportunity to do a lot of cool things in my life, but attending my first race and dropping the green flag might be one of the coolest things I have ever done," Tate told NASCAR.com.
Tate, 28, signed with the management company run by well-known NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick in August. More exposure to a different fanbase was one of the things she was promised, and she is certainly getting that. Donald Cerrone is also a client of Kevin Harvick Inc.
"One of my favorite things about my job is introducing new people to the sport," Martinsville Speedway president Clay Campbell said. "Not only will we gain a new fan in Miesha, but her fans may take an interest as well. On the flip side, some of our fans may start watching a little more mixed martial arts."
Tate (15-5) has won two fights in a row and is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Rin Nakai last month in Japan. She is ranked No. 2 among UFC women's bantamweight contenders. Tate, a Washington state native and Las Vegas resident, is targeting a bout with No. 8 Bethe Correia next.
In the meantime, though, she is plenty busy doing cross-promotional work. Tate has one of the best brands in the UFC, male or female. This is another example of that.
"We're both top-tier athletes, both UFC fighters and NASCAR drivers," Tate said. "We all work really hard to be where we're at. The fans are similar in that they enjoy the excitement each sport offers and that's why they watch and partake in them. I think that fans of NASCAR would naturally gravitate to the UFC, and vice versa, if we could just bridge that gap a bit better between both worlds."
