Miesha Tate's philosophy for Rin Nakai fight in Japan: 'Finish, kill, finish, kill'
Miesha Tate doesn't exactly think she's going to get a fair shake in Japan.
The way the UFC women's bantamweight star sees it, when she meets Rin Nakai in her home country Sept. 20 at UFC Fight Night on Fight Pass, there's very little chance of winning a decision.
"If there was ever a moment I felt the necessity, I have to finish this fight," Tate told FOX Sports last week. "I can't accept anything else. I feel like I'm going into this training camp with this strong killer instinct -- finish, kill, finish, kill."
Nakai (16-0-1) is something of an unknown to most MMA fans in the United States. But she's undefeated and has wins over notables Sarah D'Alelio and Tara LaRosa. Both of those victories were by decision in Pancrase, the organization that has pushed Nakai as some sort of fetish sex symbol. The UFC will obviously be very different, but Tate still thinks she'll have the deck stacked against her.
"I am going into hostile territory," she said.
Tate (14-5), who turned 28 years old Monday, is coming off a unanimous decision win over Liz Carmouche in April on FOX. Before that, she fell to women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey and Cat Zingano. This is a crucial fight for her. Nakai is unranked and, though a very talented grappler, not a big name here. A loss would hurt Tate with regards to her ultimate goal of fighting Rousey for the title again.
The bout also marks the first for Tate with her new management team at KHI, owned by well-known NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick. Tate will have Budweiser as a sponsor against Nakai and Bud Light in her next bout in the states. As the second most popular women's fighter in the UFC after Rousey, Tate stands to make quite a bit of money with KHI.
A victory will obviously help that. Which is why Tate isn't messing around in her preparation. She understands the importance of this fight.
"It's more motivation to go in there and finish," Tate said. "I always want to finish, but more now than ever."
