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Miesha Tate stands by her stance on fighters dating coaches

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You see it a fair bit in MMA, fighters dating coaches. There are good examples and there bad examples of this dynamic and unfortunately for Miesha Tate she experienced a bad example in Bryan Caraway. Tate is concerned that Aspen Ladd, who dates coach Jim West, may also draw the same straw further down the line. Tate sat down to talk with the MMA Hour ahead of her fight with Ketlen Vieira at UFC Vegas 43 this Saturday.

Aspen Ladd’s coach/boyfriend has a way of cornering that has the MMA community divided, some think it is too extreme and some fans think its normal. Miesha Tate is the former:

“People think that I’m crazy because they look at it and say, ‘Well the coach needed to be the coach, and he needed to be hard on her, and he needed to tell her the truth. Yeah, you’re right, but there’s a difference between motivating and there’s a difference between giving her the body language, just the little two-finger shove on her shoulder to kind of get her to focus on him — you don’t understand when you break that down, exactly what that means and what’s going on in their relationship.

“People just see this one little glimpse, and I’m looking at this from someone who’s been on the outside in the big picture, and I think she failed to show up more so probably due to outside factors than what you saw in the fight. It’s hard for people to understand that unless you’ve been there.”

The power a head coach has over a fighter can be problematic according to Tate and it is not uncommon to see coaches and fighters getting together; Pat Barry/Rose Namajunas, Andrea Lee/Donny Aaron, and Antonina Shevchenko/Pavel Fedotov and so on.

“Absolutely, especially your lead coach,” she said. “I would absolutely say you don’t want that, and that’s where Johnny and I differ very much from what I was used to in that, yes, he’s in my corner, he’s a part of my camps, he does teach me things sometimes, but I see us as equals, and I think he recognizes that, too. Sometimes, I show him things. We don’t have someone who’s in charge of the other one — we are just there to support each other, because it’s difficult when someone always gets to be the boss of you, and that translates over into the personal life, too, where you just start to feel like you lose yourself. Because where do you draw the line? Where’s the difference?

“If somebody always gets to be the boss of you, and it’s 24-7, pretty soon you’re swallowed up in that, especially if you’re not with the right person to give you that guidance. It’s a very tricky thing to do. I don’t think very many people are able to make a head coach relationship [work] — and it’s always women. It’s always women that end up dating their head coach. We haven’t really seen it in reverse, so I’m not sure what that would look like in the reverse, but I can speak from my situation that, for the most part, it was detrimental, and the longer that it went, it was detrimental.”

Tate does not want to speak in absolutes and say that all relationships between coaches and fighters are bad. John Wood and Joanne Calderwood (Mrs. Calderwood-Wood?) are an example of a good coach/fighter couple, or Paige VanZant and Austin Vanderford.

But Tate wants there to be a discussion over the power dynamics that develop in the fighter/coach relationship, especially when there is an age gap. There is a large age gap between Ladd and West.

“It is, from my experience, generally problematic when a female fighter, especially younger, starts dating a coach,” she said. “The more the age difference, the more they become, sort of, hooks in, claws deep, and they start to feel like they can rule your life. And that can happen even outside of fighting, but when you add that kind of dynamic to it as well, it can just be such an ugly situation. So I think it’s something we should definitely have conversations about, make people a little more aware that it doesn’t have to be that way.

“But a lot of times, I feel like women gravitate toward a male figure that’s in their life consistently and trying to help them. But once it becomes a relationship, things become so entangled and so intertwined, and it’s very difficult not only to separate your personal life from when you go into the gym, but the gym from when you go home. That was my biggest problem was that the coach always came home. I lost the significant other, if you will, and it just became this mental game — it was 24/7.”

Miesha dated her own coach, Bryan Caraway, for the best part of a decade until the pair went their separate ways in 2017. Caraway was charged with a whole host of crimes in 2018, including attempted theft of Miesha Tate’s ATV. Tate is now happily engaged to teammate Johnny Nunez, with whom she has two kids.

“I can relate to the situation that she’s in, and that’s exactly how I feel,” she said. “I think that in a few years, she’ll probably come out and say, ‘Yeah, I was in the thick of it. I wasn’t ready to talk about it then, but here in hindsight, here’s the truth.’”

This is the fight that had the community divided, a fight that Aspen lost:

Before that Jim West did the same thing and it resulted in one of the best performances of Aspen’s career:

You be the judge and tell us what you think, is it just a professional thing or does it run deeper than that? There are numerous cases of bullying behaviour in MMA relationships and Miesha Tate is convinced about this particular relationship. Of course, Aspen’s inability to make weight is also a major cause for concern, is she pushing herself or is she being pushed? Only time will tell.

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Paul Hughes Gets New Opponent as Oduwole Out

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Cage Warriors – Europe’s Leading MMA Organisation – have today announced a change in the scheduled opponent for Irish superstar Paul Hughes at Cage Warriors 170. 

An injury occurring just days after he signed to fight Hughes has forced Yemi Oduwole out of the contest. 

The promotion wishes him a speedy return to full health. 

CW officials have moved quickly to secure a suitable replacement, today confirming that Hughes will remain on the Saturday, April 6th bill, now facing off with Edgar ‘Smooth’ Escarrega. 

The bout will feature on the main card of CW 170 at Dublin’s iconic RDS, and air live on UFC Fight Pass and international broadcast partners. 

The 29-year-old Escarrega, who hails from the port city of Ensenada in Baja California, Mexico, brings an impressive 12-3-1 record to the contest. 

The Victory Fight Club man – who is a striker by trade – is unbeaten in his last six contests, and from twelve victories has a total of five KOs, two submissions and five points wins to his name. 

“From Mexico to the world, here I come!” said Escarrega, when signing on the dotted line for what is undoubtedly the biggest opportunity of his professional career. 

Hughes, from County Derry, is widely considered to be on the cusp of signing with the UFC following a series of impressive performances in the famous yellow gloves of Cage Warriors. 

‘Big News’ recently vacated his featherweight title, moving up to the 155lb division to stop top contender Jan Quaeyhaegens in the first round. 

Also scheduled for the CW 170 card, Dublin’s James ‘Jimbo Slice’ Sheehan contests the vacant welterweight title with Switzerland’s Daniel Konrad, with Ger Harris, Solomon Simon, Decky McAleenan, Taka Mhandu and more set to feature. 

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“I Should Get The Shot” – Jacob Smith Wants World Title Fight If He Bests Denis Puric At ONE Fight Night 21

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Fiery flyweight Muay Thai star Jacob Smith enjoyed a triumphant return to ONE Championship last December at ONE Fight Night 17 after 18 months on the sidelines. 

The Scouse striker knocked out Walter Goncalves to gain momentum in the world’s largest martial arts organization, and he plans to add to it next month.

Smith returns to action against Bosnian-Canadian powerhouse Denis Puric at ONE Fight Night 21: Eersel vs. Nicolas on Saturday, 6th April, inside Bangkok, Thailand’s historic Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. 

Fans anticipate a thunderous clash, as they are both known to finish fights. Smith feels he knows what to expect from Puric, and he plans to give him an unwelcome gift for his birthday. 

“I’m either going to stop him with the knee or stop him with an elbow. I feel like the first round is going to be quite fiery. But if he decides to rush me too early, he’s going to walk into some big shots, so I could just finish him in round one,” he said. 

“But I’m sure I’m fighting him on his 39th birthday. So, unfortunately, my birthday present is going to be me knocking him out.”

When Jacob Smith debuted in ONE Championship at May 2022’s ONE 157, he battled ONE Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion Rodtang Jitmuangnon across three rounds of hard-hitting action. 

He came up short that night via unanimous decision, and a series of injuries forced him to take time away from action afterward. But that gap seemed to have allowed him level up his skill set. 

Smith came back stronger than ever, and his first-round finish of Goncalves last December pegged him as one to watch. The #2-ranked flyweight Muay Thai contender is hoping to score back-to-back wins against Puric next month, and he knows exactly what he wants if he’s successful.

“My goal is to be ONE Championship Flyweight Muay Thai World Champion, and fingers crossed by the end of the year that comes through,” Smith said. 

“Rodtang is the champion, and Superlek is number one. After beating Walter, I’m now number two. Rodtang and Superlek are probably going fight each other again soon. Then I should get the shot at the winner after I beat Puric.”

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UFC Vegas 89 – Results | Ribas vs Namajunas

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Live from the Apex, UFC Vegas 89 saw former strawweight Rose Namajunas make her second appearance at flyweight against contender Amanda Ribas.

Note: any point deductions will be denoted by an asterisk and explained at the bottom of the page.

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Main card (2am GMT – TNT Sports)

Rose Namajunas defeats (#8) Amanda Ribas via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) – flyweight bout

Karl Williams defeats Justin Tafa via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28) – heavyweight bout

Edmen Shahbazyan defeats AJ Dobson via knockout (punches – 4:43 – R1) – middleweight bout

Payton Talbott defeats Cameron Saaiman via TKO (punches – 0:21 – R2) – bantamweight bout

Youssef Zalal defeats Billy Quarantillo via submission (rear-naked-choke – 1:50 – R2) – featherweight bout

Fernando Padilla defeats Luis Pajuelo via submission (brabo choke – 2:45 – R1) – featherweight bout

Prelims (11pm GMT – TNT Sports/UFC Fight Pass)

Trey Ogden defeats Kurt Holobaugh via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – lightweight bout

Julian Erosa defeats Ricardo Ramos via submission (guillotine – 2:15 – R1) – featherweights bout

Miles John defeats Cody Gibson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – bantamweight bout

Jarno Errens defeats Steve Nguyen via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) – featherweight bout

Darya Zheleznyakova defeats Monsterrat Rendon via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – bantamweight bout

Andre Lima defeats Igor Severino via disqualification (biting – 2:52 – R2) – flyweight bout

Mick Parkin defeats Mohammed Usman via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – heavyweight bout

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