Miesha Tate Returning to MMA, Will Fight Marion Reneau at July 17 UFC Fight Night Card

Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate revealed to ESPN this week that she’s going to mount a comeback for MMA, and she’ll be doing it in the UFC. The 34-year-old mother of two will be coming out of retirement for an upcoming UFC Fight Night card on July 17, where she will face Marion Reneau.

She said in a text message to ESPN, “My heart is full of passion, the fire has been lit! The sport has been calling for me, it’s time I answer.”

Miesha Tate previously retired from the sport following a November 2016 decision loss to Raquel Pennington at UFC 205. During her 25-fight career, she became a bantamweight champion in both Strikeforce and the UFC. She also had landmark fights with Ronda Rousey, and she would later go on to defeat Holly Holm to capture the UFC bantamweight title.

While Tate retired from the sport over four years ago, she did stay actively involved in MMA. She still hosts a weekly MMA show on Sirius XM called MMA Tonight. She also worked as an executive for Asia-based MMA promotion, ONE Championship.

One question that was raised by Tate returning to fight in July is UFC’s anti-doping policy, which includes a rule that a fighter is subject to a six-month testing window as administered by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) before they resume competition. However, the UFC does have the option to waive this rule under certain circumstances. UFC EVP and CBO Hunter Campbell later confirmed to ESPN on Friday (March 26) that the rule is being waived, and Tate will not have to be subject to the full six-month of testing window before her return.

According to UFC’s anti-doping policy, the six-month testing rule can be waived in “exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly unfair” to the fighter. Campbell noted that the spirit of the rule is stop fighters from leaving the testing pool, using PEDs and returning quickly to compete. In Tate’s case, she left the sport, started a family, and she also worked as a Vice President for ONE Championship.

Additionally, Campbell noted that Tate received 12 drug tests without incident in 2016. The expectation is that she will still be tested between four and 10 times between now and the fight with Reneau in July. The latest ESPN report noted that Tate rejoined the testing pool on Thursday (March 25), per UFC SVP of Athlete Health & Performance Jeff Novitzsky. Novitzky reportedly said he has a “high degree of comfort” for the six-month rule being waived in this case for Miesha Tate.

Tate previously retired from MMA with a record of 18-7 in 2016. She went 5-4 in the UFC, losing her last two fights against Amanda Nunes, where she lost the bantamweight title, and then to Raquel Pennington.

Her scheduled opponent, Marion Reneau, is 9-7-1 in MMA. She is currently on a four-fight losing streak in the UFC. This is reportedly the last fight on her UFC contract.