Uncharted territory awaits Miesha Tate.
The former Strikeforce and Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s bantamweight titleholder will downshift to 125 pounds for the first time when she meets Lauren Murphy in a featured UFC on ABC 3 attraction this Saturday at the UBS Arena in Elmont, New York. Tate enters the cage having lost three of her past four bouts. She last competed at UFC Fight Night 198, where she wound up on the wrong side of a five-round unanimous decision against Ketlen Vieira in their Nov. 20 headliner. Murphy, meanwhile, has pieced together five wins in six outings. She last fought on Sept. 25, when she succumbed to elbows and punches from reigning women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko in the fourth round of their UFC 266 co-main event.
As Tate and Murphy approach their intriguing battle in a top-heavy division, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:
35: Years of age for Tate, who was born on Aug. 18, 1986 in Tacoma, Washington.
7: Tate wins by submission, accounting for 37% of her career total (19). Her methods of choice: three armbars, one triangle choke, one shoulder choke, one arm-triangle choke and one rear-naked choke. Tate owns four other wins by knockout or technical knockout (21%) and eight more by decision (42%).
225,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses banked by Tate across her 11 appearances in the UFC. She has been awarded “Fight of the Night” on two occasions and “Performance of the Night” on two others.
4: First-round finishes on the Tate resume. She took care of Jamie Lynn Welsh with punches in 2:21 at a CageSport show on Nov. 29, 2008, buried Jessica Bednark with punches in 82 seconds at Freestyle Cage Fighting 27 on Jan. 31, 2009, submitted Dora Baptiste with a triangle choke in 1:48 at an Atlas Fights event on Feb. 21, 2009 and dispatched Valerie Coolbaugh with an armbar in 4:55 at Freestyle Cage Fighting 38 on Jan. 16, 2010.
107: Combined victories between the seven opponents—Vieira, Ronda Rousey (twice), Amanda Nunes, Raquel Pennington, Cat Zingano, Sarah Kaufman and Kaitlin Young—who have defeated Tate. They sport a cumulative .728 winning percentage (107-39-1).
38: Years of age for Murphy, who was born on July 27, 1983 in Anchorage, Alaska.
8: Murphy victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 53% of her career total (15). Her list of UFC victims: Mara Romero Borella and Kelly Faszholz. Murphy holds one other victory by submission (7%)—she put away Liliya Shakirova with a rear-naked choke in the second round of their UFC 254 pairing in 2020—and six more by decision (40%).
95: Significant strikes landed by Murphy in her third-round technical knockout of Faszholz at UFC Fight Night 83 in February 2016. It remains the high-water mark for the former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder.
17: Seconds needed for Murphy to chop down Kloiah Wayland with punches in her pro debut under the Alaska Fighting Championship flag on June 9, 2010. Having occurred more than 12 years ago, it remains her quickest stoppage to date.
.743: Cumulative winning percentage between the five opponents—Shevchenko, Sijara Eubanks, Katlyn Chookagian, Liz Carmouche and Sara McMann—who have beaten Murphy. They boast a combined record of 78-27.
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