Sherdog Remembers: Ronda Rousey Takes Miesha Tate’s Arm

It was a night to remember and a difficult replay to watch.

On this day six years ago, Ronda Rousey torqued on Miesha Tate’s arm until its structural integrity was compromised, and was rewarded with the Strikeforce women’s bantamweight title.

Here’s how Sherdog editor Brian Knapp saw the action six years ago in C-Bus:

In the end, Miesha Tate found herself in the same hopeless position as Ronda Rousey’s first four opponents in mixed martial arts.

The undefeated Rousey submitted Tate with a first-round armbar to win the women’s bantamweight championship in the Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey” headliner on Saturday at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. The reluctant tapout came 4:36 into round one, with Tate’s left arm grotesquely hyperextended between Rousey’s legs.

“She was much more savvy on the ground than I had anticipated,” Rousey said. “She’s good, she’s legit, but I don’t feel that bad about [the armbar finish].

“I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt since I kind of started [the bad blood between us], but after the weigh-ins, when she got in my face and I pushed her back and she said I should be fined for head butting her ... if you’re going to try to act hard, just follow up with it. Don’t pull back and say I should get a fine. I thought that was kind of messed up.”

Tate held nothing back, came out firing and tagged Rousey (5-0, 3-0 SF) with a stout right hand during their opening exchange. The 2008 Olympic bronze medalist responded with the first of her two takedowns and transitioned immediately to an armbar. Tate freed herself and initiated a scramble that result in her taking the decorated judoka’s back.

Eventually, they returned to their feet, and Rousey scored with a beautiful judo throw. She then moved to mount, punched Tate (12-3, 4-2 SF) into surrendering her back and latched onto the arm again. This time, there was no escape, and Tate’s decision not to tapout immediately likely cost her some damage to her arm.

“[The arm] is a little sore, but I came here to put on a fight,” she said. “I really didn’t like her, so I wanted to come out hard. I got a little overzealous, and she caught the arm. I’ve got to give her respect. I do respect her as an athlete.”

Rousey has finished all five of her professional opponents and all three of her amateur opponents with armbars inside of one round. She figures to next face former champion Sarah Kaufman, a majority decision winner over Alexis Davis on the undercard.

“I would welcome [the opportunity], for sure,” Rousey said. “I was impressed with both of their performances. I’m really glad to see the ladies bring it. Whoever the fans want to see. I feel Sarah Kaufman got a little cheated out of this title shot, so I think it’s the right thing to give her the next one.”