Miesha Tate to Take on Ronda Rousey in ‘Pretty,’ ‘Sexy’ MMA Fighter Battle [PHOTOS]

In perhaps the most anticipated women's mixed martial arts (MMA) match of all time, women's bantamweight champ Miesha Tate will take on Ronda Rousey on Saturday for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) Strikeforce. The two women, who are being marketed in a "sexy" campaign, have clashed outside of the cage, as well, sparring about using their looks for promotion.

The women, who fight in the bantamweight class of 135-pounds, have been on a media tour in the past few weeks leading up to the cage match on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, which will air on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET.

On Showtime's official YouTube channel, ads for the Tate-Rousey fight are labeled "Sexy Promo," featuring the women in sexy, leg-baring cocktail dresses before a fight montage, juxtaposing the fight while capitalizing on sex appeal.

"The two girls are easy on the eyes," Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told USA Today. "But these girls are very dangerous too."

Similarly, Shannon Knapp, a former employee of UFC and Strikeforce, agrees with the campaign.

"Whether they're pretty or they're not pretty, they've earned that spot," Knapp told USA Today. "I think that Showtime and I think that Strikeforce has really put a lot of effort into it in marketing it and I commend them for that."

But the buzz about the Tate-Rousey match isn't just regarding the fight itself, but a verbal spat between the two women about that sex appeal marketing. Tate said that Rousey uses her good looks and loud mouth to promote winning titles.

"I just don't like the fact that she wants to try and say she deserves more because she's marketable," Tate said. "No, You need to earn your keep. You need to fight the best. You need to get there by winning fights, not by saying you're pretty."

But Rousey doesn't care about being friendly with other fighters.

"I wasn't looking to make friends in this sport," Rousey said. "It doesn't matter if people don't like me because it's mostly current or former champs who think everyone should throw petals at their feet. Honestly, I don't care if a bunch of girls I don't know don't like me."

Tate can dish it but she has trouble taking it, according to USA Today.

"What it says is, if you are the type of marketable (person) that we're looking for and you run your mouth enough, you can get a title shot," Tate said. "That kind of takes away from the legitimacy of the sport. ... (But) this is a mixture of where we have to entertain the fans, as well. With that taken into consideration, I think they made the best decision to ensure the future of women's MMA in matching Ronda and myself."

When it comes to fighting, though, Tate plans to fend off her competitor quickly and easily.

"I want to test everything," Tate said. "I want to push her way beyond her limits to the point where she mentally breaks and she realizes she shouldn't have talked so much crap before the fight. She should've been more humble and respectful."

Leading up to the fight on Saturday, view the slideshow to see photos of these "pretty" MMA fighters, Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey.

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Miesha Tate to Take on Ronda Rousey in ‘Pretty,’ ‘Sexy’ MMA Fighter Battle [PHOTOS]

In perhaps the most anticipated women's mixed martial arts (MMA) match of all time, women's bantamweight champ Miesha Tate will take on Ronda Rousey on Saturday for the Ultimate Fighting Championship's (UFC) Strikeforce. The two women, who are being marketed in a "sexy" campaign, have clashed outside of the cage, as well, sparring about using their looks for promotion.

The women, who fight in the bantamweight class of 135-pounds, have been on a media tour in the past few weeks leading up to the cage match on Saturday in Columbus, Ohio, which will air on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET.

On Showtime's official YouTube channel, ads for the Tate-Rousey fight are labeled "Sexy Promo," featuring the women in sexy, leg-baring cocktail dresses before a fight montage, juxtaposing the fight while capitalizing on sex appeal.

"The two girls are easy on the eyes," Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker told USA Today. "But these girls are very dangerous too."

Similarly, Shannon Knapp, a former employee of UFC and Strikeforce, agrees with the campaign.

"Whether they're pretty or they're not pretty, they've earned that spot," Knapp told USA Today. "I think that Showtime and I think that Strikeforce has really put a lot of effort into it in marketing it and I commend them for that."

But the buzz about the Tate-Rousey match isn't just regarding the fight itself, but a verbal spat between the two women about that sex appeal marketing. Tate said that Rousey uses her good looks and loud mouth to promote winning titles.

"I just don't like the fact that she wants to try and say she deserves more because she's marketable," Tate said. "No, You need to earn your keep. You need to fight the best. You need to get there by winning fights, not by saying you're pretty."

But Rousey doesn't care about being friendly with other fighters.

"I wasn't looking to make friends in this sport," Rousey said. "It doesn't matter if people don't like me because it's mostly current or former champs who think everyone should throw petals at their feet. Honestly, I don't care if a bunch of girls I don't know don't like me."

Tate can dish it but she has trouble taking it, according to USA Today.

"What it says is, if you are the type of marketable (person) that we're looking for and you run your mouth enough, you can get a title shot," Tate said. "That kind of takes away from the legitimacy of the sport. ... (But) this is a mixture of where we have to entertain the fans, as well. With that taken into consideration, I think they made the best decision to ensure the future of women's MMA in matching Ronda and myself."

When it comes to fighting, though, Tate plans to fend off her competitor quickly and easily.

"I want to test everything," Tate said. "I want to push her way beyond her limits to the point where she mentally breaks and she realizes she shouldn't have talked so much crap before the fight. She should've been more humble and respectful."

Leading up to the fight on Saturday, view the slideshow to see photos of these "pretty" MMA fighters, Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey.

View the original article here

Sexy Promotional Photo Sessions for Strikeforce Fighters Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey

Considering the sexy, Strikeforce photo shoot that both Miesha Tate and Ronda Rousey just completed, good looks and trim figures are as important as social media presence—if you want to be featured as the main event on Showtime. If the photo session of Ronda all dolled up and lounging on the couch looking sultry is any indication, Strikeforce is adjusting how they're marketing women's MMA.

Ronda tweeted an image of herself being photographed. Strikeforce included two images of Ronda's session on their fan page. Fans are showing their appreciation with "likes" approaching 1,000 as of this writing.

There's one photo of Miesha with the championship belt and another getting her hair and makeup done. As of this writing, the number of likes are over 500, but the image of Miesha with the belt isn't a fair comparison with Ronda's pose in her little black dress.

Miesha tweeted a photo of her session. Her new Twitter profile photo is an eye-catcher too.

Dana White's Involvement

UFC president, Dana White is bringing his experience and ideas to Strikeforce. In an MMAJunkie post, Strikeforce CEO, Scott Coker said, "Anytime a guy like Dana wants to become involved, with his marketing machine behind him, I think it's going to be a great thing."

Different times, different landscape. "Well, Cyborg is Cyborg, she's got an appropriate name," Scott said in an SBNation interview with Luke Thomas. "The Cyborg I know is always picking up her husband after her fight, with a congratulatory salute to the crowd, with her husband up on her shoulders. She's a beast as a girl."

That gives me a promotional photo idea for when Cyborg returns: Cyborg lifting up the (heavy) end of the couch where Ronda is lounging. To avoid sliding, Ronda would have to hang onto the arm of the couch. Just a thought.

Most Anticipated Female Fight in 3 Years

SBNation 's Luke Thomas reported that Scott Coker said, "These girls are very attractive girls, but the one thing about both of them is, these girls are dangerous. They're both very explosive. They're great fighters. They're great mixed martial arts fighters…it's the first time since the Cyborg-Carano fight since we've had a fight of this magnitude. I think it's the most highly anticipated female fight in the last three years in female mixed martial arts."

Scott continued, "Ronda, she might have talked her way into this fight—which is great for female mixed martial arts—I still think that this girl, with her Olympic experience and the amount of mat time she's had with judo and professional competition, definitely deserves a shot. I think Miesha will have her hands full."

Bad Ronda

Eric Estrada tweeted, "Hey Ronda, Miesha called you out for being nervous and scared at the photo shoot today. Got any response to that?"

Of course, she does. Ronda's tweeted response, "yeah, her attempts at trash talking are as lame as her fights."

Bad Miesha

Michael Fenton tweeted Miesha a question, "Hey Miesha, do you believe Ronda's story about beating up 4 guys? Sounds a little far fetched to me."

Miesha's reply: "I haven't heard it, but no, she talks out her a$$ all the time I don't believe anything she says."

Forrest Redd tweeted, "I like Ronda Rousey, but I cannot support someone who believes people like GSP are bad for the sport. Goodluck @MieshaTate you got this!"

Miesha tweeted back, "Thank you, she couldn't dig herself a hole any faster if she had a backhoe."

On the 25th of January: "I figured out y Ronda talks so much smack, it's 2 hide her insecurities she was so nervous 2day I had 2 laugh I can see right through the bs."

Superfights or Divisions?

I'm beginning to wonder, at this point in time, would super fights work better than divisions for women's MMA? Why not match up the best two female fighters in different weight classes and schedule those fights instead of waiting for enough of them to get good enough to have depth in one division ("depth" as perceived by Dana White).

What do you think?

Source: Twitter, Facebook, all other sources noted

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Cheryl Ragsdale started out boxing and has added kicks and BJJ so she can practice MMA. She trains with Keith Florian and UFC Fighter Kenny Florian at Florian Martial Arts - follow @thatgirlisfunny

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