Miesha Tate (photo via UFC)

By FCF Staff

Following the news that Miesha Tate has landed a vice-president position with ONE Championship, the renowned fighter is criticizing how MMA is being promoted in the west.

The former UFC champ was recently a guest on “The MMA Hour”, and during the segment, Tate had this to say about the state of the sport (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I think the promotion has gone so far one way, that I don’t really identify with it anymore,” Tate said. “I love martial arts and I always will, but I prefer it to be promoted in a more true fashion, that it’s more about the fighting than it is about the trash talking that you do outside of the cage, the ring, the Octagon. I really think it’s important to hold those values, and I feel like in the western promotion of it all, it’s become much more of a circus. It’s really become watered down in a sense, and I feel like the core fan base that used to be there — more early on in my career or even midway through my career — was more about the fights, and I feel like that’s gotten pushed away.

“We’ve gotten to a fan base that’s a lot more about what people can do and say outside of the Octagon, people flying outside of the cage and attacking people, or the trash talk from Conor McGregor or even Ronda (Rousey). I feel like it’s different than the way that I would choose to approach or be a part of the sport.”

Tate has relocated to Singapore in connection to her new position with the Asian based promotion. The 32-year-old decided to hang up the gloves after she lost via decision to Raquel Pennington in 2016.