New bantamweight champion Miesha Tate (18-5-0) defends her UFC belt for the first time at UFC 200 on July 9 in Las Vegas against dangerous number one contender Amanda Nunes (12-4-0). Let’s study the UFC odds for this fight!
When Dana White announced Tate vs. Nunes, many fans and experts did not agree with the decision because they said that either Holly Holm or Ronda Rousey should have received the title shot against Tate.
It’s easy to understand why this decision wasn’t popular, but let’s analyze why this fight can be a decent, fun to watch matchup.
Amanda Nunes may not be very famous yet, but she deserves to be the No. 1 contender at 135 pounds.
Nunes is 5-1-0 in the UFC, including three straight wins. If Nunes is at her best, she can dominate with battering ground strikes.
Fight after fight, Nunes has gotten more mature and ready for a bigger exposure. Besides, Tate vs. Nunes has been a proposed fight behind the scenes for quite a while, so both women have probably done their homework by studying each other.
Tough Challenge For Tate
Miesha Tate is favored to win this fight at prices ranging from -247 and -285 UFC odds at different sports betting sites and with good reason. Tate is one of the toughest MMA fighters today, her lethal combination of well rounded-wrestling skills and striking has been impressive and it has caused trouble for former champions Rousey and Holm.
Tate has survived hard hitting impacts, proving that her chin is tough. Will her chin resist the deadly strikes of Amanda Nunes (between +200 and +225 to win against Tate)? Nunes has nine of her 12 victories via knockout, and a win against her would solidify Tate’s reputation as the most dangerous woman in the UFC. This fight can also help Tate prove that she has a chance to defeat Ronda Rousey.
Can Nunes Upset Tate?
It will be interesting to see if Nunes can hold up against Tate’s wrestling skills. Nunes has great takedown defense and if she wants to win this fight she has to be able exploit to it.
I’m looking forward to this fight, not just because it is part of possibly the biggest UFC event ever. I’ve been a fan of Tate for a long time and I’ve followed Nunes’ rise through the UFC ranks, so I can understand why this fight makes sense and why it can steal the show.
Nunes has little name value for now, but she poses a legitimate threat to Tate’s reign, and the reigning champion knows it, as evidenced by her answers when asked about Nunes.
“She comes out with a ferocious pace. She has incredible leg kicks. She looks like she hits like a Mack Truck, and I believe she’s a black belt on the ground.”
“She presents a lot of problems, but that’s good because I want a challenge.” “It’s a tall order. She’s definitely not going to be an easy feat.”
Prediction
Tate and Nunes are evenly matched in many ways but the champion has the edge. Tate is tough to take out early and she’s a more proven fighter. Nunes will improve during the fight, but Tate by decision in a back-and-forth fight is the right UFC pick.
Nunes will have her hands full; that’s for sure. Her performance in her recent fights drops off measurably after the second round and Tate has rarely been finished before the third round. Nunes, like Rousey, has to do something dramatic to improve her cardio before she faces Tate.
I agree based on past performance, but it is a championship fight and Nunes is moving her camp to Las Vegas 1 month before the fight. I think her cardio is going to be a lot better — the lady is sick of hearing about how she runs out of gas…lol
Miesha Tate is literally a Gangster. This is (in my opinion) the grittiest woman on the planet.
My disclaimer here is that I love, love, love me some Ronda Rousey but how many MMA fighters do you know that will simply let someone break their arm and not tap…..Miesha Tate that’s who.
Miesha deserves to be where she is right now and Amanda Nunes doesn’t. She hasn’t worked as hard and had as many disappointments. Miesha can ‘Will’ herself into the winners circle.
Ronda had better come back twice the woman she was in the past if she wants to beat Miesha.
In a Holly Holm rematch, Miesha will kill Holly and eat the evidence.
Which only proves how downtrodden Ronda was in the Holly Holm fight.
Ronda fought too many times that year, problems with her Mother and her Trainer Edmond as well as too many interviews, television appearances, commercials, movies, etc, etc, etc. etc infinity.
Without Ronda, we wouldn’t even have a UFC women’s division.
Without Miesha, Ronda wouldn’t have someone to hate.
It took both of them. Let’s honor Miesha while she’s there and Ronda when she comes back. (if ever)
Holly Holm simply got lucky one night.
If you saw the Holm vs Pennington fight you could make the argument that Pennington won.
Just too much ‘Hype’ to let Holm loose that fight.
Nuff said.