Miesha Tate broke her losing streak in the UFC by defeating Julia Avila, crediting her success to her fiancee, Johnny Nunez, and wrestling coach, Kirk White, who helped her improve her existing moves and manage the pressures of high-level competition.
Miesha Tate’s UFC Austin bout against Julia Avila was as high-stakes as her previous fights with Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm. She was on a two-fight losing streak, with a 1-2 record since coming out of a five-year retirement in 2021. The pressure to retire again was mounting if she didn’t turn things around.
“I’ve been doing this for so long,” she confessed on The MMA Hour. People were saying, “She’s done. She’s washed up. She should retire.” This made her feel like she had a lot to prove, just like in a title fight.
She knew she had more to offer. “I could not quit on myself when I knew there was still more to give,” she said. She believed she was capable of much more and needed to prove it to herself. She finally figured out how to put the puzzle pieces together to form a complete picture.
In her fight against Avila, Tate dominated the first two rounds and secured a third-round submission, breaking her losing streak. This performance earned her a $50,000 “Performance of the Night” bonus, her fifth in the UFC.
She credits her fiancee, Johnny Nunez, and wrestling coach Kirk White for her success. Rather than teaching her new moves, they improved the ones she already knew. “Before, I think I’ve had bits and pieces, and I’ve put some things together,” she said. But this time, she felt like she finally got what she needed out of the coaching.
During most of her UFC career, she was coached by then-partner Bryan Caraway. The stress of maintaining their relationship and performing at her best led to a breakdown during her fight with Raquel Pennington at UFC 205. She quit inside the octagon after losing a unanimous decision.
She admitted to always going full throttle, which probably led to her initial retirement due to burnout. After separating from Caraway and retiring from MMA, she redefined her relationship with the sport. Upon her return, she built a new team anchored by Nunez and hired a mental coach to help her deal with the pressures of high-level competition. This paid off with a comeback win over Marion Reneau in 2021.
Earlier in her career, Tate’s stubbornness won over fans but often led to losses. Before the fight with Avila, she worked on going with the flow and relying on her grappling skills. Before walking to the octagon at UFC Austin, she told her team not to overwhelm her with orders. She wanted them to trust what she was doing and what they’d drilled countless times leading up to the fight.
White, who hadn’t coached many UFC fighters before, forgot the stool after one of the rounds, Tate recalled with a laugh. But he also did something no other coach had done before: he led her with questions that brought her to the right advice.
“I’ve always fought with a big heart and toughness,” Tate said. But this time, she wanted to fight with her skillset. She felt like she had consistently under-performed in her fights, even the ones she won. She knew she could do better.
Tate isn’t sure how long she’ll fight in this second season of her career. Instead of trying to do it all, she’s staying in the moment, focusing on one thing at a time. At 2-2 since her comeback, she’ll need several more wins to get close to the title she famously won by choking out Holm in the fifth round of their UFC 196 meeting. But whatever happens, she knows she’s doing things her way, and that’s just as valuable as UFC gold.