Former women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate returned to action at UFC Des Moines, taking on ex-Invicta champ Yana Santos in the featured preliminary card fight.
A determined, downright aggressive Tate came out firing in the fight, doubling up on her jab and landing repeated left hands on the taller, longer Santos. Yana would return fire, but through the opening minute, it was “Cupcake” Tate getting the better of things. The pace would, understandably, slow a bit as the round wore on, but Tate did keep the pressure up, and threaten to take the pack at one point. Tate worked the body in the clinch, fired kicks, and overall kept Santos guessing; Santos finally went after her won takedown, which Tate fought off. Santos found her rhythm in the back half of the round, doing damage to the legs and catching Tate coming in at times, making the round much closer than it looked from the outset.
Round two didn’t have the same red-hot start, and instead saw a number of exchanges, usually abbreviated, and grappling back-and-forths play out. Santos had the edge in volume as the fight wore on, and Tate was easily stuffed when shooting in on takedowns that were lower and lower percentage. Ultimately, it was a strong round for Yana Santos, who picked up where she left off at the end of the first.
A key takedown finally arrived for Miesha Tate about 90 seconds into round three. She planted Santos firmly on her back, with “Cupcake” sitting in half guard. Tate was able to land punches to the head as Santos rolled to her knees, thrashing wildly; that allowed Tate to take the back, locking on with a body triangle. Tate landed more shots to the head and tried to reposition, but just couldn’t get under the chin. Elbows to the side of the head came next from Tate, who still had the back, Santos on top of her. Tate couldn’t get the finish, but ended the round strong as they headed to the scorecards.
The judges saw it the same across the board after 15 minutes, with Yana Santos earning triplicate 29-28 scores.
Official Result: Yana Santos def. Miesha Tate by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
