Miesha Tate has worked hard to become a respected name in the world of women’s MMA fighting, and the recent news of an odd matchup has her reeling.

Tate spoke out recently about a potential fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, saying she believes that the UFC might not have the right intentions in mind with its approval of the match. Rousey has become a well-respected fighter in her own right since her debut in 2011, and has moved into the acting world as well. Carano, however, hasn’t been in a professional match since 2009. For her to make a sudden comeback in a fight with the UFC women’s bantamweight champion doesn’t sit well with Tate.

“The only thing that drives that is they’re both attractive. It makes the women’s title hold no value. It makes it look like it’s a joke and they just put whatever’s going to sell. If we’re going to really legitimize women’s MMA as a sport and have it respected as a sport, then you have to treat it as such….women’s MMA has been working to legitimize ourselves for so long, and we finally broke the ice, we’re finally in the UFC, and we’re getting some credibility. Don’t take that away by putting a fight together that is based entirely on looks and has little to nothing to do with skill set,” Tate said.

Tate was quick to point out that she thinks both women are attractive, but attractiveness is not what it’s all about. In fact, Tate as spoken out against Rousey before on that very subject.

“Every single woman that fights MMA has done just as much work as Ronda has, we just haven’t gotten as much turnaround. Those women who came before her haven’t been on magazine covers, they weren’t plastered everywhere by the UFC. They didn’t get the same reward back. She got 10 times back what she was putting in and maybe everyone else was getting 1 to 1,” she said.

Tate says she’s willing to step in and fight Carano rather than let her take on a comeback match with Rousey.

“If Gina is serious about making a comeback, then I think I would be the perfect person for her to step in to fight against. I’m not the champion, and it makes kind of a mockery of women’s MMA to have her come in and fight the champion. If she can beat me, I’ll wish her well on her way to the title, and I’ll definitely be rooting for her.”

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