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Ex-champion Miesha Tate gets opportunity to climb rankings at UFC Fight Night in May

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Feb 18, 2025 11:54 AM ET

Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha Tate is officially set to return for her first fight since late 2023.

Tate Back In The Mix At Women's Bantamweight

A women’s MMA pioneer, Tate won the Strikeforce bantamweight belt from Marloes Coenen in 2011 before losing it to rising star and future UFC Hall of Famer Ronda Rousey the following year.

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“Cupcake” went on to join the UFC after the promotion purchased Strikeforce and initially went 0-2 after a debut loss to Cat Zingano and failed title bid against Rousey, but after that Tate went on a five-fight win streak capped off by a fifth-round submission against Holly Holm to win the women’s bantamweight belt at UFC 196.

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Tate lost the belt to Amanda Nunes at UFC 200 before she also dropped a decision to Raquel Pennington four months later, which led to the 38-year-old’s retirement from the sport before she later made a comeback in 2021 and stopped Marion Reneau with ground and pound.

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Former Champion Faces #10-Ranked Yana Santos In May

The former champion followed the Reneau win with back-to-back losses before she most recently submitted the recently-retired Julia Avila in December 2023, and now “Cupcake” has confirmed she’ll return to face another anked contender in Yana Santos at a UFC Fight Night on May 3.

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No location for the event has been confirmed by the UFC as of yet, but the current expectation is that the UFC Fight Night will take place in Des Moines as the promotion’s second trip to Iowa and first since UFC 26 in 2000.

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Despite only fighting intermittently since her return in 2021, Tate occupies the #12 spot in the UFC women’s bantamweight rankings and will have a chance to climb even higher when she meets the #10-ranked Santos.

A former featherweight title challenger, Santos most recently took a unanimous decision over Chelsea Chandler last August to snap a three-fight losing streak that began at UFC 264 in 2021.

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Only a handful of bouts have been confirmed for the rumored Des Moines card on May 3, and with the addition of Tate vs. Santos the UFC Fight Night event is currently shaping up like this:

• Marina Rodriguez vs. Gillian Robertson

• Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Daniel Rodriguez

• Yana Santos vs. Miesha Tate

• Jeong Yeong Lee vs. Trevor Peek

• Cameron Smotherman vs. Serhiy Sidey