Tate warns McGregor to stay humble
Miesha Tate has had her ups and downs with the UFC, and she doesn't think Conor McGregor's feud with the organization is a productive one.
It doesn't help that in the wake of McGregor's recent refusal to fulfill his promotional duties, it fell upon Tate and her peers to pick up the slack. The UFC women's bantamweight champion spoke about the unique relationship between McGregor and the UFC, particularly the perks that are available to him and him alone, in an appearance on SiriusXM's "Rush Fight Club" Thursday.
"The UFC has gone above and beyond to accommodate him and you've got to think about this too: How did Conor McGregor become Conor McGregor?" said Tate, according to Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting. "If there was no UFC you wouldn't know who he was. It's been a mutual effort on both their parts. The UFC has spent a tremendous amount of money promoting Conor McGregor and he's made a lot of money - for himself and for them - but it's teamwork.
"They're both working hard to create something great and it has been great but don't change now, Conor. Stay the course. This is what you've been doing, this is what got you here. Don't get big-headed and now think that you're above it because I think that's the downfall."
Tate knows a thing or two about dealing with larger-than-life personalities, having had a lengthy rivalry with Ronda Rousey. She acknowledged the mercurial nature of star-making in the sport of MMA and knows that the organization will move on without herself, Rousey, or McGregor.
That said, she took umbrage with McGregor asking for a special exemption from his promotional responsibilities so that he could have more time to train.
"My point is he already gets that. A lot. They wanted to fly him out three months before UFC 200 in a private jet where he could have up to 20 people come with him," said Tate. "No one else gets that. Nobody else. That is preferential treatment. That is special. He can bring his entire camp with him and work out on the plane if he wants to because it's his plane! It's private. He gets here and he gets a huge penthouse suite, he gets put up in a house, he gets a butler, he gets whatever he wants.
"The UFC will accommodate him in any way that they can because he is special. And that's cool. I don't mind that, but then what's your excuse? You're already getting preferential (treatment), you're already getting all these great things that nobody else gets."