Miesha Tate discussed her post-fight career and new venture as a play-by-play analyst for ONE Championship at the recent open workouts in Los Angeles.
ONE Championship is currently in the midst of their first-ever media tour in the United States as they prepare to hold arguably the biggest event in their history. While new signees Demetrious Johnson and Eddie Alvarez have been meeting fans and working out for the media at stops across America, Vice Presidents Rich Franklin and Miesha Tate have also been front and center to speak to the public. Cageside Press caught up with “Cupcake” to discuss her latest post-fight venture at the open workouts in Los Angeles.
Since retiring from the sport in 2016, Tate has put together arguably the most impressive post-fight career of any mixed martial artist that exists today. She has worked as a studio analyst on FOX, hosts a show on Sirius XM, worked as a fight manager, and now moves into her new position as a Vice President at ONE Championship. When asked whether she sees being the head of a company as the end-goal, Tate says it’s more about growing on her journey rather than focusing on a finish line.
“I don’t set end goals for myself. I don’t believe in that. I just believe in continuing to grow. There is no end goal in-sight. It’s just about continuing to broaden my horizons and I’m very excited to be merging my name with ONE Championship. I just believe in everything they stand for.”
Outside of her television work, Tate has also been a manager for MMA fighters such as Amanda Serrano and Gustavo Lopez. Her show on Sirius XM is one of the biggest platforms for the sport and she has already said she plans to continue being on the air despite moving to other side of the world. When considering her new role at ONE, it would almost seem as if the accolade of being a former UFC and Strikeforce champion is at risk of being unseated from the top of her resume. So how does one have such a successful post-fight career in the growing world of mixed martial arts? Tate explains:
“It’s really difficult, but the secret is knowing that you really want to. It’s not a light decision that I made. I followed my passion and followed my heart and this is where it led me. I remember I was retired, I was a couple months into being a new mom, and I sat back and thought, ‘I’m meant to be doing something greater than what I’m doing right now.’ It was just speaking to me and you have to be willing to put it all out there. I mean, moving my family around the world to Singapore is not a decision I took lightly. But when you know something is right, and you know you have a calling, you’ve got to listen.”
More than being a major player on the business side and working as a brand ambassador, Tate will also be taking on a new challenge as she will be doing play-by-play commentary for ONE. Among one of the most challenging roles in sports broadcasting, Tate says it is her passion that has helped her most in her new job at the mic.
“I think unfolding live action is where I flourish. I like to explain and help the audience to understand what is going on. Having been a martial artist for so long myself, I know so much knowledge. I’m very excited to explain to people ‘What’s going on? What is this? What are you seeing right now?’ I want to help educate people. I love to talk about the fights as they’re happening, it’s my favorite thing to do. I did the FOX pre-fight show, post-fight show, and that was really difficult for me because I had to make predictions and all those things. But I love to sit cageside and follow the action so it’s natural for me.”
Tate’s abilities will be on full display to the western audience in 2019 as ONE Championship has just signed a new deal with Turner Sports to broadcast events in English on the Bleacher Report Live app with highlights and other programming set to air on TNT. The first event will be ONE Championship: A New Era, which takes place on March 31 in Tokyo.
