Miesha Tate
Appearances
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
No, absolutely not. I loved every second of wrestling. It was the most difficult thing I had ever done in my young 15 years. And even by the time that I graduated, I lived my entire year waiting for wrestling season to come back around. You know, I think had I known more, I probably would have tried to do some wrestling camps or things like that on the off season. But I
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I didn't, I just didn't have that kind of family know-how or, you know, support in that way because we didn't come from that background. Choosing to wrestle as a girl was very odd and it didn't, my dad didn't like it at all. So it really wasn't going to get any extra support. So it wasn't something that I really was able to focus on. the other three quarters of the year.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So I looked so forward to wrestling season every year. I would have done it year round without question had that been an opportunity for me, but it wasn't. And no, there was literally no point that I ever wanted to quit wrestling. I would never miss practices. I mean, I lived for it. It was the thing that made me feel alive.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Well, my mom was the first person that I talked to about it. I said, Mom, what do you think if I go out for wrestling? And she kind of paused and was like, you really want to do that? And I was like, yeah, I mean, I think so. I want to try. Can I? And she was like, well, I don't think you're going to like it. And I, I'm not going to tell you that you can't try it though.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So she said, you know, go ahead. And my grandmother, my mom kind of came from this headstrong family. you know, pro women in a healthy way. Um, I'm not going to tell you that there's nothing you can't do if guys can do it, you know, they're doing it, then you should have the opportunity to do it too.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So thankfully it was something that my mom did not withhold me from, or I would be on a totally different path right now. I would never probably have found the UFC. I don't think I would even know my own strength because nothing that I've ever done besides maybe birthing children, would test me in the ways that the world of sport has.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And especially the way that hand-to-hand combat does with one other athlete, no team to rely on. I'm in that single moment of high pressure, injury prone, hand-to-hand combat. combat provides. It's unlike anything else in the world. And for those reasons, you know, I look at that and I'm so grateful that she didn't hold me back from that.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And my dad, I don't remember when we told my dad, but it wasn't right away. That's for sure. So, yeah, we were able to kind of keep that from him for a little bit. And, you know, once he did find out, he was like, you're letting her what? She's doing what with who? And he wasn't very happy about it. He wasn't very stoked about it.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But he also kind of threw his hands up in the air and was like, there's nothing I can do about it. Like my mom said, I can do it. He was kind of like, well, then whatever. But it wasn't something, honestly, I didn't ever feel supported about. by my dad doing wrestling. Like he even came to some of my post wrestling meets and maybe he showed up to a couple, couple matches.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But there was not really any excitement or support for what I was doing. And I, I do understand it because now that I'm a mother and, I can understand the inherent need for a parent to protect and especially from a father, a father and a daughter.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
That's kind of be one of the most God given instincts that there is, is for a father to protect daughter, for father to protect mother, for father to protect children in general. But I mean, especially his girls, you know, And I didn't realize how I was challenging that very notion at that time by going out and willingly putting myself at risk where he didn't really have any say.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I think it made me want to prove myself even more. If I'm being totally honest, I think I felt my dad's absence in all of that so heavily that I look back and realize I was sort of trying to become what I was missing. So I think... Although I do not consider my dad to be a weak man, not by any sense of the mean. My dad's former military.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Let's go. Yeah. So I'm great, you know, and I think the universe has a way of conspiring. I don't know if you've ever read The Alchemist, but have you ever read that book, The Alchemist? I have, yeah. So, you know, when things are meant to happen, they just are. And here we are doing the podcast, which, yeah, I mean, this is meant to be, it feels like.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
He was a Green Beret, pretty militant man, really a man's man. You know, he hunts, he fishes like man's man. But he was at the time he was working for a moving company. So he was on the road a lot. And I didn't really see him a lot. And as I became a teenager, our relationship really became strained because we were from such different worlds.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I feel like I had grown up so much without him that I sort of took on the wanting to be the strong person. person for my mother, I guess I wanted, I almost like that older, the older son, oldest son, like when dad's gone, who's the man of the house. I think that I kind of adopted that responsibility unknowing. And I wanted to be strong and fearless and confident and
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
provide in some way although I didn't have a way to provide monetarily but to protect my mom in ways you know my parents you know they're still together which is you know it's incredible to be for anybody together that long but you know they went through really rough patches like I think any relationship that makes it to the end you know can always look back and say like man there was times I didn't think we were going to make it there were times I didn't think my parents were going to be able to pull through and they did but in those hard times I
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I saw my mom hurt a lot. I saw her suffer a lot. And I know that my dad did too, but men just deal with it so differently that my dad dealt with it by, um, leaving the house, you know, by doing or not talking about it, just suppression. And my mother, I was kind of her confidant, you know, so I was kind of that friend.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I was kind of that person she would come and talk to and pour her heart and soul out. And so we were really close. And I think that's what happens, you know, when you don't feel connected to a strong male source in home, then There's a chance, you know, that if I guess if you're someone like me, you might take on some of that responsibility in your own way.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And so I think that's why I kind of lean towards those male-ish characteristics or attributes, if you will.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Well, I think I give a lot of credit to my mom. You know, she raised me to be an independent thinker, to use my brain, to use my body, to not segregate myself, to know how capable I am. I remember being a little girl and telling people I want to be an astronaut. And most of the time their reaction was no. maybe you'd get all that's nice.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But a lot of times, like, do you know how unrealistic that is? You know, I just feel like, you know, I was an 80s baby. So it was like, I did not there was no like coddling, there was no, you know, let me be sensitive to your feelings. It was just like, I'm gonna tell you that that's not realistic.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And especially for a girl, like, I don't know if there had even been a female astronaut in space yet, at that point. So, um, My mother's reaction, though, regardless of what I would tell her, but be like, mom, I want to be an astronaut someday. And she, shh, without hesitation, you will. you will like, if that's what you want, you will.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And although I didn't become an astronaut, I still feel like I became a success. And it was because my mother instilled the confidence in me. She believed in me. So therefore I knew that I could, whatever it was, I could.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Yeah, absolutely. My mom was really hard on me a lot of times, too. She was the truth holder. But then I knew what she said she meant. You know, I knew that there wasn't the sugar coating. Now, she was wrong about me liking wrestling, but she let me know, like, I don't think you're going to like it. And, yeah, I'm not buying you wrestling shoes until I know you're going to do it for sure.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So it was the first few weeks of, you know, just wrestling barefoot, basically. But, yeah, you know, it was, you know, and I didn't grow up wealthy, right? My not, not even, I would say close to that. It probably wasn't until closer to high school when my parents were becoming more financially secure. So, you know, it was really rough in the beginning. It was, it was tough.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You know, actually my, who I refer to as my dad, his name's Rob. He raised me since I was like two and a half, but actually biologically he's not my father by blood. So the first two and a half, three years of my life, I was raised by my mother only. And we were so poor. We were so, so poor. And we lived, we had a house that, but it was given to us by my mom's mom. My grandmother.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
That's an easier way to say it, isn't it? My grandmother. But it was not in great condition. The roof needed repair. The roof needed to be redone. And I remember that at points, our power being turned off in the middle of the winter and us only really being able to heat one room in the back. I ate cereal every single day, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And it was so cold in our house that even the toilets at times were frozen over. So, you know, those formative years, but my mother's always been the kind of person that would go without to make sure that I had, you know, what I needed. There were times when school would be starting and my mother's shoes would be like falling off of her feet.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And yet she would make sure that I had new shoes to go to school with. Even though my shoes were still fine, her shoes, she really needed new, but she would make sure that I went to school with new shoes. So she always sacrificed. so much to make sure. And, you know, I'll never forget that. And I think because of those moments, I always felt like in debt to my mom.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So whenever I saw my mom go through something hard or difficult or challenging, I wanted to save her from it. And when you have a lack of male presence in your life, in whatever way that you interpret that, whether it's because you're Some dads are in prison. Some dads are removed from the home in that way. Some dads are removed in the home because they're emotionally unavailable.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Some dads are removed from the home because they're working so much. And by the time they get home, there's barely any time to spend together, much less, you know, my dad didn't have great coping skills. He didn't have the best.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
upbringing either so when he would come home it would be like kind of turn the TV on I need to decompress I'm exhausted he didn't really have a lot of time and energy to invest in understanding this young woman that was growing up in his house you know he'd never raised a girl before much less other children So, you know, I think I felt a big disconnect there for a while.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And that became sort of my backbone, if you will. I kind of took that and said, whatever you don't provide me, I will find in myself.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And it wasn't a conscious thought, but it is how I look back on it and recognize the reason I became a fighter is because it is one of the strongest, most difficult and masculine things that you can do.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Yeah, that's a, it's a good question. It's definitely a loaded question. So hold on. I mean, I'll start with this. First of all, as a little girl growing up, it's not like I was getting into fist fights and this was a predictable career path for me. Like, Oh, it made sense. You know, Misha went down fighting. She was always, you know, a troublemaker, troubled child.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I think the moment that I was born as a fighter would be in round two of my very first fight. So remember when I was telling you that I had no interest in fighting anybody and then I got talked into trying this MMA club sport and I use air quotes. It was just a little class that was taught by students going to Central Washington University.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I learned how to choke people and I still was not interested in doing any striking. I got invited to a local fight card in Yakima, Washington, and I watched the fights and I was just absolutely floored. I was taken back. I had never seen anything like it in my life. Because amateur fights, so mind you, amateur fights are highly entertaining and they pour their whole heart and soul out there.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So I remember having this feeling of being drawn to it like a moth to a flame and thinking, God, if they can do it, I can do it. You know, I've been through this in wrestling. Like there were no female fighters on the card, by the way, but I was so inspired by the males. And so this little flame had kind of been lit.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And then they made an announcement that if there were any females in the audience, there would be a fight card in three weeks. That was for only females. And I was like, no way they're females do this. Okay. I'm going to make my way down. And I signed up right there.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And then three weeks later, I had my first fight and ended up fighting this gal named Liz Posner who owned a Muay Thai kickboxing gym with her husband. I think in
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
uh in bc i think in vancouver um british columbia so we were fighting round one i take her down she you know she stands super tall legs were available and i was like oh my god that was that was so easy and i was just taken back because i was used to wrestling these monster men so And I think I was I forgot to even throw a punch on the ground because I was so new.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I literally never punched anybody. And round two came out. She caught me in a Muay Thai clinch, which if you don't know what it is, you kind of just take your hands, put them on as you're facing somebody on the back of their head. You clasp your hands together and then you bring your forearms in front of the collarbones. You kind of have this tie around here. Hmm. on someone's head.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I did not know what this was. I couldn't have named it if you would have asked me. And I surely didn't know how to get out of it. So she begins firing knees right through the center. And one of them hits my nose, smashes it, clean on. Another one's coming down the pipe. And at this point, I am just trying so hard to get through this so that I can take her down.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So I'm driving in as hard as I can to worry up against the ropes because this is not in even a cage. It's in a boxing ring, which makes it, you know, harder to wrestle. But anyways, I take, I finally know I slide down kind of towards her ankles.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I think I'm kind of ankle diving at this point, which I'm actually grateful for because at least I'm out of the line of knees and she kind of spins around and she gets on my back and I'm on my elbows and my knees and she's trying to get this choke in. And this is a very,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
vivid moment for me still it was a very defining moment for me because my nose was broken so badly that I was pouring blood not dripping I'm talking streamlining blood to the mat and this pool of blood is getting bigger right in front of my eyes I'm watching this puddle of blood grow and I You know, she's actively trying to finish the fight. So she's hitting me in the ears.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I really wouldn't describe my upbringing in that way. I was a tomboy and I was, you know, into playing a lot of sports. I think that boys like to do. I was always very athletic. I like to climb trees.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
She's trying to choke me out. And I remember the only time in my career I've ever lost my temper was in that moment. And usually it doesn't serve you well, but fortunately for me in this moment, that was when the fighter was born. right? I was like, I am here to get revenge. And I started rodeo kind of bucking her and I kind of hula hooped her down in front of me.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So now she's in the guard position. I stood up on my tiptoes and I was just raining down punches with everything that I had. And there was tons of blood everywhere and round two ended. And I went back to my corner and my coaches were silent. They didn't know what to say. There was no reaction. They were just like, what in the hell are we supposed to do with this? Like, don't know what to do.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I think they kind of panicked and they just threw in the towel. They didn't, they didn't like talk to me about it. It was just like, yeah, you're done. Like they didn't, they didn't have, I think they didn't have the heart to send me back out for round three. And I think that was because I was a female and again, not bad guys, but I think that the innate protective instinct kicked in.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
They kind of maybe looked at me like little sis and it was their job to save me. And that was the only thing that they could do. They couldn't go in and fight the fight for me. So they took me out of it. And it was such a bummer because I remember seeing her face and her relief drop to her knees. Like the sigh of relief was permeable in the whole freaking stadium.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I was just like, ah, I was so frustrated because I really wanted to I figured out what I was there to do. And it sounds funny to enter a fight and not know what you're there to do. But honestly, I don't think I had figured that out yet in round one.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
um i still embrace my femininity along the way though you know um i like to do my hair and wear skirts and you know be feminine um so for me this was just a normal blend of characteristics but i came to find out later as i joined the wrestling team in high school which was not for females by the way i was joining the all-male wrestling team along with my friend sharon um
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
It wasn't until I had sustained serious damage and then gotten through it that I finally realized what a fight was like and how to channel the inner fighter. So that was really the birthing place of my fight career.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Yeah, so the next progression, ironically enough, was me first dealing with the aftermath of not only losing a fight, but sustaining really bad damage. You can remember, I was a broke college kid. This was insanity to everyone that was around me. Why would you be going to college and do something like this for absolutely no money?
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
damage your face, risk your brain cells. It made no sense to anybody but me. Didn't even make sense to my mom. My mom highly discouraged it. She didn't like the fact that I was doing it. And I think everybody had this idea that, well, thank God she learned her lesson. Thank God it wasn't worse. Now she realizes this is a bad idea and we can be done with it.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And that was the last thing that I was thinking. I was thinking, I just didn't prepare right. I didn't know anything about fighting. I watched some fights. I dove right in three weeks of training and I I didn't, I, there were things I didn't know. It's not that I couldn't have won that fight. I just didn't prepare for it. And anything you want to do well, you have to prepare for.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So I remember I had, my face looked like something like a raccoon lion hybrid. So I had two giant black eyes and my nose was wide and flat and I was extremely swollen and I, Yeah, I really didn't have a leg to stand on or argue with people looking like one in that condition. But I know what I was thinking. I was thinking, I'm going to go back and I'm going to start training.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I'm going to do this better. And at that time, that didn't mean that I was thinking I was going to have a career in this at all. I thought... One step at a time. I just want to do better than that. I just want to like win a fight and I want to, I want to prepare for it correctly, be challenged and, and see what I actually can do with proper preparation.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But this was not a common thing for girls to be girly, but also be strong and athletic. So it was kind of an anomaly for most people. And, you know, they really tried to get me to quit that first season that I went out. The boys just, I don't think that they were bad guys looking back on it.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So that's what I did, but then another fight turned into another fight turned into another fight, and pretty soon I had won six amateur fights, and I was getting a call to turn pro. And I think that the second moment that I knew that this was going to be something more serious was...
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
When I got a call from Strikeforce to come down to San Jose, where they were based out of, and fight Elena Maxwell. Her nickname was Beef. Elena Beef Maxwell. So I fight at 135 pounds bantamweight. She fought at 145 pounds. So the call was to fight her upper weight class. And she's a two-time K-1 kickboxing world champion. I'm just...
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You know, some wrestler out of Washington who's a bit smaller that probably should be easy pickings for the hometown girl, right? So I go down there and I win this fight. Wow. And they then offered me a multi-fight contract. And that was the turning point of my career when I said, oh my gosh. I'm actually guaranteed three fights a year. And if I keep winning, I make more money.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And mind you, when I say more, this was like pennies on the dollar. I think that my fight with Elena Maxwell was like $1,500 to show and $1,500 to win. So, but, but when you're not making any money, that was a good chunk of money, you know? And, and, um, I was already in a passion pursuit at that point. Um, I had given up the luxuries of life. I was, I didn't have an apartment.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I, um, went in on a 22 foot RV with two other fighters and we bought this, put it on Dennis Hallman's property, uh, and lived there for. a year and a half, two years. So really had sacrificed everything just to be able to train. So at Dennis Hallman's, he had a, basically a glorified gym with padded walls and it was called victory athletics.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So every day there was pro practice and we would train and we would spar and we would fight and we would learn and, And when I got that contract that said, Hey, you'll be able to fight guaranteed three times a year. I said, man, like this is, this is the dream. Like I didn't know what I was working for exactly. Cause there wasn't a clear path for women. Remember women were not fighting in the UFC.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Strike force was a huge deal because it was actually televised. It was the challenger series. I'm trying to remember what it was on. It was HD net at first. And then I think it moved up to a little bit more of a visible channel and it Then Gina Carano, shortly after that, ended up fighting Cyborg, which was the biggest selling event in Strike Force history at that point.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I just think they had the preconceived notion that most people had at that time that this was not a sport for women. Women didn't belong. They couldn't hang. They couldn't do it. It was too tough. And so they just threw me in with the best wrestlers on the team, me having never wrestled a day in my life. And it was very clear to me they just wanted to get me out of there.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So it outdid all of the fighters previously, which were all male, and it opened the door. I said, wow, this is the direction I want to go. And Gina really inspired me. She really... was somebody who carried herself with a lot of couth and a lot of likeability. She always seemed a very real, honest, genuine person. Hell of a fighter. She had so much spirit.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And so she opened the door for the rest of us. And I was right there. Like, as soon as I got my contract, I was like, that's what I want to do. That's who I want to be like. That's what I'm aspiring to. And then it wasn't long after that, of course, Dana White started getting the question. When are women going to be in the UFC? Never. You know, it's like, I'll never let women in the UFC.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But it was my fight with Ronda that actually changed his mind. So, you know, back to that thought that I had some years before that, it ended up coming true. And I really feel like I manifested that. I didn't know Dana was going to be watching that fight, but I just poured my heart and soul into it. And granted, I didn't come away with the win. It was a win for women in the sport of MMA.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Even though it was a loss on my shoulders, I still was able to deliver in a powerful way and have this rivalry with Ronda and give her a good run for her money to show that there was competitiveness, there was skill, there was heart, there was determination. There was everything that you would want out of a fight.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Even me refusing to tap and letting my arm just completely be annihilated, dislocated. I just refused. She got me in an arm bar. And she snapped it and I wouldn't tap. So, you know, people were like, oh, my God, like, how is she so tough? Like, how are women so tough? Like that? No idea that we had this in us, I think. And so it was pretty big news at the time. And when Dana saw it. I don't know.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Like, I think it was within a week. He called me, gave me a big bonus and said, women are coming to the UFC. And I said, holy shit. Cause he wasn't my boss at that time.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
It wasn't. And there was some rumors about strike force being absorbed by the UFC. We didn't know what that meant for fighters and especially for females. Cause all we had ever heard at that point was women will never fight in the UFC. So we were like, dang, we're pretty SOL. And yeah, I did know that before going into the fight with Ronda that the future of us may be dependent on that.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But I didn't know if Dana would care. Like, I don't know. I didn't know if he would be watching. But I thought, well, here's the chance. Here's the opportunity to prove everything I've been saying. And I know that it can be done because I've done it before. And learning that lesson as a 15-year-old girl moving through high school, that anybody's perception can be changed. Just need an opportunity.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So there it was. And I took it. Then I walked away with so much more victory and the victory mindset that then I think I could have even, I had won the fight. Like honestly, looking back on it now, I learned so much more from those losses. They elevated me in every single way, and especially when it comes to being humble. And understanding how hard it is to lose shit that matters to you.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
They know the strength and conditioning was brutal and it was so difficult. And I remember after my first practice being like, I loved, I was not good at it, but I loved it. And I, and I think that, I had this thought of law of diminishing return. I didn't know that that's what it was called at the time. I was just 15. But I remember thinking, I'm going to get better at this if I keep showing up.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I worked so hard for that. I put all my eggs in one basket and it felt like my life was ruined. So I empathize with people who maybe have gone through bankruptcy or who have... you know, gone, gone to jail or lost their job or this or that. It's like, and I just know what feeling like hitting rock bottom is no matter how hard you've been working for something.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I know what, and you know, just to lose it life in those moments that really matter. And they feel like it's, it's the end all be all. And then to be able to still move through that and find some light at the end of the tunnel, you know, and that wasn't the only big pickup or roadblock, but it was,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
one of the ones that shaped me in such a big way that i will always be grateful and carry that sense of gratitude for the opportunity to be shaped in that moment you know that was top to bottom
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Thank you. No, I appreciate you highlighting that. And I think I kind of just, I glossed over it and really didn't realize that that is such a driving point. That is such an impactful part. And that's not to say that when you lose things that matter to you, that you just wake up the next day, happy as ever. No, I was crushed. I was devastated. It was felt like my whole life had been ruined.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I know that that's like, Oh, how can that be? It was just a fight. It was just it. But it was everything to me because it was such an uphill battle to get there. And then I had this huge rivalry and I felt like I was meant to win that fight. But now I realize I wasn't. And I had to be okay with that because I gained so much more about life experience and life knowledge and empathy.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Empathy is such a powerful tool to have and to be able to lean on, to be able to be empathetic towards other people and understand what it feels like to just take hard losses. And I grieved, I mourned, I was sad, I cried and cried. And I was so frustrated because I had lost my world title. And I thought that maybe I had lost every opportunity to really become something and go to the UFC.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I'm so bad now. I have to be able to get better fast. So I just got to show up and work really hard. And I did all four years. And then I ended up winning the Coach's Award my senior year, which has kind of given out to one athlete that embodies what it means to be a team player and a wrestler. And Wow.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I just didn't know. And I remember that week was really, really tough. I felt, you know, you feel like you let down a lot of people around you too, because people start to invest in you. They start to, to, to care, you know, your trainers, your training partners, your gym, your mom, your dad, they're flying there. They're coming to support you. And when you lose, sometimes you,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
that's the hardest thing to face, not just the loss, but the feeling of losing for everybody else. It's just manifests and it becomes so heavy and suffocating. And so in that moment, I was so broken. I was sad. I cried. Um, but I, I got through it. And I guess I do want to drive that point home too. That doesn't mean that the process is easy. It doesn't mean it feels good to lose things.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
It doesn't mean that it's going to feel like it's good or right or going to be good in the end. It doesn't. It feels like shit. And you're going to feel like shit. And you're going to feel terrible. And you're going to feel like nothing will ever be right again. And you're going to feel like it's hopeless.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And you can maybe even question whether you can get through it or you still belong here or your worth or your value. You do. And it will. So you just have to have faith. Faith is believing in something without having proof.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You have to have faith that you will come out better for it on the other side. And sometimes that's all that you have because you don't have proof. You don't know for sure. But it starts with making that decision, whether you're going to have faith, whether you're going to choose yourself, whether you're going to believe in yourself. You know, and I think back to my mom's voice every time.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You can. Like you will. You can and you will. And that's really something she instilled in me young. And I think I've always carried that thought, even in my darkest moments, even in the most challenging moments. When I questioned my worth, I questioned my validity. I questioned my value. I questioned my reason for life. I questioned all of it.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And at points, I really thought that maybe my life wasn't worth living anymore. I had really tied my identity to my value as a fighter. And when I lost, it really felt like I was nothing but a loser. I had nothing to contribute. And I realized now it was short-sighted, but I had to get through those losses and move through that.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Because, you know, going from a team that really just didn't want you there to being somebody who was recognized as, as, you know, a role model type example of what a wrestler embodies and being a female and capturing that was amazing. To this date, probably one of my biggest accomplishments. And it led me right into MMA. I went to college. I went to Central Washington University.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But each one was just like this devastating blow that I didn't know exactly how to move through. And it's just remembering that you can and you will.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Yes, it really was. And again, I was still so consumed by... my worth was, you know, tied to a single outcome.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I think this is a common mentality for athletes, but I think this also extends to fathers, mothers, you know, whatever, like, you know, I think, I think men, because I've talked to enough men and I, I want to praise men for a second here, because I think that it's so difficult this day and age, maybe more difficult than many years prior to, um,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
be a man, like to be masculine because masculinity gets a bad rap. It's, you know, masculinity can be used for good. It can be used for bad. If you have a masculine, confident, strong, capable man, and he steals your purse because of it, well then yeah, it's bad. But if he stops someone stealing your purse, then it's great. So masculinity is not inherently a bad characteristic.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
It depends how it's used. And I just think that, men have had to go through a lack of support as of recent. And, and, and if, even if there is support, it's a lot of times the wrong way. Like, you know, I don't think men want to be pitied. Um, I don't think that men want, you know, their wives or women to come to them and be like, do you want to talk about your feelings?
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Like that's not exactly how it works. Like they want you to pump them up to where like they run, they'll run through a wall for you because that's like, that is what, um, like men are the backbone of our society. And I just, I fucking love masculinity. I love a strong man.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I love it when they're also in touch with their feelings, but I realized that men and women are just different in that aspect. And so, you know, I try to learn that and I try to respect it and move through it. But, you know, for me, it's, it's, it's been a learning curve for all of it. Even when I've tapped into my masculine, masculine side and my feminine side, and I kind of lost sight of,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
parts of me or my feminine, or I tried to drive it out so that I could be strong for my fights and compartmentalize. And then, um, it just led me to like not understanding a lot of it. And, and I guess in, you know, again, moving through that, your question was like, you know, getting the title. So I got the title of Strikeforce against Marlos Kunin and I lost it to Ronda.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
but I got that call from Dana about week, two weeks later, you know, got some money in my pocket and was like, Hey, we're going to have a job in the UFC crew. Okay. So I'll be all right. I'll get through this, you know, get on the UFC. Um, You know, I work my way back. I coach on the ultimate fighter against Ronda Rousey, tough 18. And I fight her for a second time.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And my friend, Rosalia, was like, hey, do you want to come out and check out this mixed martial arts club sport? And I was like, no way. I'm like, not at all. I don't do karate. First of all, that's what I thought it was. I was so ignorant. And I was like, and I have zero desire to hit anybody in the face, much less get hit in the face. It just sounds terrible. Like count me. I am not in.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
She's the champ in the UFC right now. And God, I want so badly to get this one back. And not just because of the redemption part of like, oh, you know, this person I lost to. Like, there are people that I have lost to before that I didn't care to win as much as I did against Rhonda. You know, part of it was the rivalry. But part of it, too, was because she was so –
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
like mean to people that couldn't fight back it was one of my biggest points of contention with her on the ultimate fighter she just treated people bad people that she knew that she could treat that way producers editors interview you know the people working behind the scenes and i always hated it so i wanted to win for those people and i lost again i never beat ronda right i fought her two times and i lost both times and that was compounding
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
difficulty to move through that but then you know I fought I think it was five or six more fights after her I won all of them I became the number one contender again and there was supposed to be this rematch again with Ronda but they ended up giving it to Holly Holm. Even after they had promised it to me, they gave it to Holly Holm. But I remember being so upset about it.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And then Holly Holm kicked Rhonda's head into, like, outer space, knocked her out. It was like the head kick heard around the world, right? And... I was like, okay, well now I want to fight Holly, you know? So then I got the opportunity to fight Holly and it all came around. I ended up winning my world title there in force and excuse me, in the UFC moving past straight force.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I won my world title in the UFC and it all made sense because I mean, I had the first time I lost her on the second time I lost her on it. It was, it didn't seem to make sense. And then it all came back around and it made sense. And it was just, I had to have that mindset of I can and I will. I will get through this and I will find success in this.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Build for Growth. Build for Growth.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Well, of course, it felt amazing. In that moment, I was so emotional because I had been working what felt like, you know, forever. It just, it felt like my whole life's worth of work that night finally came together and then it all made sense. And, and everything, you know, in that moment was great. But if I'm being completely honest with you, I was still a very broken person on the inside.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I had pushed a lot of things away. I had not dealt with a lot of things that were in my life that were holding me down, bringing me down, whether it was past traumas or things I was currently going through that had become skeletons in the closet. that was like adding another brick every day to the load that I was carrying. And eventually one of the bricks just flattened me.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And she came back the next day and was like, Misha, you've got to come and check it out. I know you'll love it. It's all these former high school wrestlers and college wrestlers and you're going to love it. And I was like, all right, fine. So I went and on my very first day, I learned how to choke people. And I guess the rest is history.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
It, it, it, so it, I think the craziest part about winning the world title was that for a few weeks I was on top of the world. Like nothing could bring me down. And then after that, I realized that fixed absolutely nothing.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
nothing it fixed nothing it was a band-aid that looked great and was probably decorated and cute and looked wonderful but underneath the wound was nowhere near healed and it wasn't until I fought two more times I lost those both of those fights after that and I walked away from the sport of MMA I retired I left a extremely toxic relationship that I had been in for nine years.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I had allowed myself to become isolated from family, from friends. And I had told myself that the more difficult it is, the better I'll be, the better I'll do. You know, it was in spite of, I needed, I convinced myself that I needed this adversity to be a great fighter because I had always had it. So I thought that it was necessary. And it wasn't until I,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I really went on a sort of spiritual healing journey to fix the relationships that I didn't have anymore, rekindle the things that are important to me and reconnect with God. You know, that was a big part for me was, you know, I was always a believer, but I didn't really have a deep connection. And I think
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
In that moment when I lost that second fight and my world was spinning out of control, I didn't know which way was up, which way was down. I'd always describe it like being in this really dark room. It's pitch black and there is just a pinhole of light And this is like the moments when you're considering whether your life is still worth living, contemplating taking my own life.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And there's a pinhole of light. And I can either stay until the room's completely dark and I'm gone, or I can run to that light. And so I ran to the light, even though I didn't know where it was going to take me. And, you know, that's symbolic of, you know, of starting the healing journey, the healing trajectory, dealing with the things that I had not dealt with.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
getting rid of the things in my life that weren't serving me or moving me in the right direction, realizing that I'm not just me should take the fighter, finding who I am beyond that. And really, you know, soul searching. And, you know, I'm not somebody who pushes religion on people. I think that your relationship with God or Jesus doesn't need to happen in a church. The people are the church.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You don't have to go to church. But I do say, if anybody's still listening to the message here, I'm not trying to push anything on you. I don't have anything to gain from this. But if you feel like you're missing something in life, I believe that there's power in a relationship with God. And I will just leave it there. You know, I feel like there is freedom in that.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And it set me free in a way because just like the song, Jesus take the wheel, I can kind of like, Hey, it's all, it's all good. Like when one door closes in my face, I know like, I'm so good. Like I know who I am at the end of the day. I'm a God fearing woman. Like that's who I am. And you could take everything else away from me in life, but you can never take that away.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And so to have something that is so constant and I mean, you could take my house away. You could take my title away. Someday I won't be a fighter anymore. Right. Someday I'll be retired and like, I won't be able to say, Oh, I am a fighter. I'll say I was a fighter. Right. Um, God forbid, I could lose my husband. I could lose my children. The title mother could be taken from me.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I hate to even think about that. But I'm talking about like those, we really have to look at the things we take for granted. People lose their children and they're no longer fathers and mothers, right? People lose their significant others. They're no longer husbands and wives. People lose their homes.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You know, look at the natural disasters that happen in North Carolina and Ashford that these homes are, they're not even there. They're gone. They're not even, I mean, these people are losing loved ones, lives, homes, livestock, lifestyle, everything. Those things can be taken away right now. 10 seconds from now is not guaranteed.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
We think it's going to come 10 seconds from now is going to come, but it's not guaranteed. All those things can be taken. But the thing that can never be taken from me is my faith in God. And so that gives me the security to know that whatever there is to face is He's got my back. Like I'm, I will, I can, and I will, and I will do it from a place that's so much more secure now.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Like I'm not reactive to people anymore. Like people, you can't hurt my feelings. Go ahead and try Dylan. Call my kids ugly. You ain't gonna hurt my feelings. You know what I mean? I'm like, well, I think my kids are great. Um, that's fine. You know, maybe you think my kids aren't the cutest thing in the world, but I do like, I have my peace. because of my foundation with God.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And yeah, peace is everything, right? It's the thing that can't be taken from you. So with all that being said, I try never to take any of those things for granted, but it's much easier said when I know that I'm secure and I know exactly who I am. And I know that no matter which direction life takes me, I'll be fine. I'll figure it out.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
If the house metaphorical home burns down, I have the tools to build it again. Like I just stay calm, go find some wood, go find some nails and build my house again. You know, like that metaphorical home and life will be torn down many, many, many times. But every time you have the balls and gumption to build it again, you'll build it back better than it was before.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Each time you reinvent that you build that house, it will be better and nicer. You'll be like, actually, I didn't really like the kitchen the way the kitchen was anyways. I'm going to build it better. I know what I want in this new home. So that's just how I look at life.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Every time the wrecking ball comes in and wipes everything out from underneath me, it's like, okay, there's an opportunity to build it back better than it was before. I'm good.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Right.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I honestly don't think that it was – that that was the thought because I was so terrible. I mean, I had never wrestled a day in my life. Now, I could see that happening for females that maybe wrestled since they were little, very young at that time. You know, there were – some lucky, lucky girls that had families that had older brothers.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So, and I'm, I'm, you said it so well, and I'm glad that you shared that because I think people live in a world where it's so propagandized. I say that's a long word where, you know, things matter like, Oh, what are you working for? So you can have a nicer home. So you can have a nicer car. So you can have this, you can have that. Why? Why?
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
It's like, well, so they could, they can have more of your money. It's like, wait, so you basically, I mean, and I'm not trying to put anybody down. Of course, you know, I want to, you know, be able to have a home and have a car and these things or whatever. But all I'm saying though, is like, you have to put that on a balancing scale and realize that that shit doesn't really mean very much.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Like I don't wear name brand clothes anymore. Like, unless it's like a gift or anything like that. Like I don't buy the shit because I'm like, It's just clothes. Like, I don't care. Like, I know that, you know, people who are celebrity status are supposed to do that. Well, they do that so that they can make people think that they're better than you. But they're not better than you.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
They're just people. Like, they put their pants on in the morning one leg at a time just like we do. Like gravity applies the same to them. Like it's all the same. Nobody's cooler than anybody. And that's also one of the things that's cool about having a relationship with God is it's just a great equalizer. I don't care.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Black, white, Asian, gay, married, divorced, like sinner, this, that, like we all, like we're all children of God. We all make sense. We all fuck up. So who am I to judge? Like you've been through some shit. I've been through some shit. Cool. Like what can we learn from each other? I'm here to help you. You're here to help me. Awesome.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
We're like, there's no, there's nothing that makes you better than me. There's nothing that makes me better than you. And it has nothing to do with the amount of shit we can buy or the nicest things that we can drive. That just is what tells me that, you know, it's like, well, you, you know, you bought into like what other people think is important.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And again, I'm not pooing anybody for having a nice home or having a nice car or anything. Those things are nice, but doesn't mean anything in comparison. Yeah. in my humble opinion, of having your peace and your freedom. That is priceless. There's no amount of money in the world that can give you that, can give you a good night of sleep. It doesn't happen.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I see a lot of athletes, celebrities, these people, and my heart breaks when I see them commit suicide, when I see them take their lives, because I have at least a small understanding of what it's like to taste death that life of having everything and still feeling like, why am I still sad?
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Like I just made a million dollars on, on this fight with, you know, with, uh, always with Amanda technically, you know, and I made that and I've got this beautiful belt and, you know, this and that, like, I've got a house, like, shouldn't I be happy? Like, wait, that's what every, my, like my whole life. That's what, you know, TV is telling me. That's what the messaging is like.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You want all these things because these things are great. No, they're temporary dopamine hits and they don't mean shit at the end of the day. Because if you don't know who you are, if you don't have your peace, you don't have your freedom, you will not be happy. Plenty of billionaires out there who are not happy. They have all the money in the world, not a care in the world.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Otherwise could pay for whatever they want. They don't have their peace. They haven't figured it out yet. So. I think it's great if you can have both nice things and have your peace and your freedom, but I think it's hard to do if you don't have, um, you know, that kind of faith foundation foundation that I think it's, I think it's difficult to do. I don't, I don't know if it's possible.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I find that most people I think who are the happiest have a, have a genuine authentic relationship with God, but, um, either way, you know, like if, if you're missing something, like what do you, What do you have to lose? I'm not saying go to church. I'm not saying start tithing. I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about like, say prayer. See how it feels. See how it sits with you.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
See if you can give some faith to, you know, divine intervention and take some pressure off yourself. That's all.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Oh, you mean you start to become human, right? Right. Like, we all do this? We all do this. Totally normal.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I was like, now I'm rethinking the name of the podcast, but Build for Growth. Yeah, Build for Growth, Build Better. It's the same thing.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So I don't think I was a threat to anybody. Not at first, but I definitely, by my senior year, I remember there was this one kid, his name was Jacob, and he was a really good wrestler. And I remember getting in some battles with him my senior year and, and him like losing his temper because I was not winning, but I was just, I was forcing him to work. And I don't think he even liked that.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Yeah, we have to figure that out, the why. And we have to remember to have the gratitude even when it doesn't seem to make sense. Because I remember you really wanted to do this last week and I was ready and I was excited, but you were like, man, I'm so congested. I think you said you gave yourself a bloody nose, even trying to like clear your nose and sentences.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But like, what a gift was it to have another week to even prepare for this conversation? You know what I mean? Like you were able to like go through and you listened to some of my podcasts and I really appreciate that. I've seen your comments on my Instagram and just like being so supportive. And that is something we wouldn't have had, had we rushed the process and had that, you know, that,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
done the call that week and so this conversation I think took a whole level of depth that we wouldn't have had if we didn't have an extra week to kind of formulate the kinship and you know getting to know each other and the depth and you know what you're trying to do what I'm trying to do and combining our messaging so I think the product turns out better for it you feel better you look good you're not all congested like we're good like you're good take your hands off the wheel Jesus has got it man
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
We have to do a part two and it'll be better then because there will be more stuff that we're going to talk about because I have some really good episodes that are coming out soon that I know that you'll be really interested in. I actually just recorded an episode with... um, Brian Sanders, um, his Instagram is food lies. So that one's not out yet.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I'm not sure when it will be, but, um, that's a little sneak peek, I guess, for your listeners. Uh, but he's awesome, man. It's so cool talking about the evolution of uh, humans and how we came to eat meat and how we changed throughout our evolution. When we started eating meat, man, that was fascinating.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
When we became, uh, using tools and the way that we were able to prioritize hunting at that point. And then how our brains grew, like went from these small kind of like eight like brains to bam, human brains was directly correlated with the time that our meat consumption went up. which I think is really fascinating.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And again, I'm not trying to put down any vegans or vegetarians or anything like that. I do believe that we were meant to eat meat. I think it's more bioavailable and better. But regardless, it was so interesting looking at the science behind that. So, I mean, there's a lot of really cool conversations that I've had on the podcast. If you're interested in it, you know, it's built for growth.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I think you can listen to it pretty much anywhere. You're on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, or wherever the heck you listen to your podcast. And, you know, what I'm really trying to do there, Dylan, which we talked about on Monica Brand's show, was I'm trying to truth-seek. I'm trying to decipher the world and bring it to light to people in the most transparent way to help them in their journey.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I want informed and transformed. That's what I'm looking for. I want people to be able to make informed decisions. not a doctor and I'm not the smartest person in the world, but I have good intentions. And I think intention is 90% of it. If not more, I always base my judgment on of character is like, well, what was their intention? What did they mean to do?
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You know, like what, what were they trying to do? What was their intention? Was it meant to be good or was it meant to be bad? You know, just cause something goes wrong doesn't mean that somebody meant for it to, you know, it's like, you got to take that all into account. So anyways, um, my intention with this is just genuinely to help people, um,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I think that I have been given and provided so many gifts in my life. And I think about how 2024 in America looks way different than 2024 for women, especially in Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, Palestine, Israel, you know, a lot of these places. So I got to do something with it. I can't squander it. No. I've got to talk to people. I've got to try to figure out the truth.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Like I was really forcing him to work. you know, beat minus P's and Q's or I was going to get that reversal or I was going to get, you know, and I just remember him cross-facing me so hard and just like, just being like a mean, like aggressive mean, like really lost his temper and just,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I can't sit here and say I'll never make a mistake or, you know, do it perfect. I'm not going to do it perfect. But each week, every Thursday, I will do my damnedest to help me learn and you learn and give you the best tools to help you grow in life.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
in the decisions that you're going to make, whether it's, um, you know, anything from nutrition to avoiding toxins to mentality, you know, I have personalities and experts and it's just such a passion project of mine because I've been thinking for quite some time, what am I going to do when I retire? Like, what is my calling? I'm not just going to I'm not just going to do nothing.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So what do I want to do? I can tell you right now, it's like, I just want to make a difference. I want to know someday that when I'm laying on my deathbed, that I helped people because so many people helped me along the way. It just feels like the right thing to do. And I want to do the right thing for no other reason than it's the right thing to do. That's it. There's no other reason.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You're not going to buy me out. I'm not going to sell out. You can't steal my peace. Take everything. Take my money. Take my car. Take my house. I don't. You know what I mean? I worked hard for all this stuff. I'm proud of it. Sure. but it's not, that's not what I'm chasing. They don't care if I have a bigger house. I don't have the nicest house. Like I don't live in a million dollar mansion.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I live pretty simple. My car is dirty most of the time. Like, what can I say? You get in my car, you probably sit on a cheese stick that my kids left in there. It's a popcorn. Like I'm just a normal person. Cause I don't care. Like, and you know, like, I don't know. I pick people up from the airport. I'm like, Hey guys, it is what it is. It's where you get the room. You should say it. Sorry.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Like, I don't know. I love my life. I'm, I'm not obsessed with being perfect or trying to present to you that I'm perfect. Like you're going to know exactly who I am and I'm not going to, I'm not going to apologize for it. Like I'm a mom. I don't pay people to clean my house again. There's nothing wrong with that.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But first of all, it wouldn't make sense for me because my kids will destroy it again within like 30 minutes of being home. So it doesn't even make sense to have somebody else clean my house. But regardless, I have to live in an imperfect environment because, um, Yeah. That's just how, how I want it to be. I don't want to overstress these things. Like it doesn't matter at the end of the day.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I've got my kids, got my family. I got God in my life. I got my freedom. I got my peace. Boom. We're good. Happy.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
almost to the point where I realized that I was getting into a battle of physicality with somebody who was physically stronger than me, who was on the verge of really trying to injure me. And I remember in that moment, I had to be like, okay, you know what? I'm just going to back down, relax. This isn't a match that I need to win. Like gym wars, you know what I mean? It was a gym war.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Right.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So, you know. You can't steal my piece. You can't steal my piece. I just lead those things with empathy. People ask me now, like, how do you when I talk to, you know, teenage groups or high schools or, you know, kids that are growing up in a social media world?
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
My heart goes out to them because I know how challenging it is to have that constant influx from people that you don't know telling you things you don't shouldn't have to hear from these people. Yeah. And I, my piece of advice is to lead with empathy. It ain't about you.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
If that person is leaving a comment that's negative, if they, if they are hating on you and you haven't done something out and out wrong, I'm just like a terrible thing. Like it's just maybe a picture of you and they're just like, you look fat or something, right? It's nothing to do with you. It has to do with how that person is perceiving living and living their life. Like, they're not happy.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Like, if somebody's a troll, like, I'm like, oh, my God, I feel so sorry for you. That must suck, man. Like, you haven't found your peace yet. Like, you haven't found – you're searching for it. You don't know how to be happy. Like, if what I'm doing is hurting your feelings, like – I mean, I don't know what to say. Like, I'm sorry. Like, I'll say a prayer for you.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
That's the best thing I can do, I guess, you know, but you're not going to steal my peace. Go ahead. If you want, it doesn't serve any purpose because it's not going to affect me. But what are you living with? Like, how's your day going? You know, the person that's like, leave that comment. I think about that. And I'm sometimes like, man, how's your day going? Like, Yeah. Right.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Like, and I actually mean it like sincerely, because I think sometimes these people are like reaching out negatively because it's almost like they're, they're blowing off a little steam. It's like, it's almost like a little cry for help in this little way, you know, like these people are. Yeah, I mean, healthy, normal, quote unquote, people don't really, you know, they're not doing that.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I was like, I don't have anything to prove here. I hate to break it to you, but I don't have a penis. So- Like, you know, like, honestly, I don't know what's going on here, but whatever. And I just kind of, like, let that one go. But, you know, I mean, this happened, like, a few times, definitely.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So anyways, I just lead with empathy and it saves me a lot of pain. I don't care what you say online about me. I don't care. I really can say that it's only because I've truly found my peace in all of this. So yeah, say whatever you want. It's all good.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Yeah. So, you know, just remember that. Like, it doesn't have anything to do with you. Like, they're not happy. That's it. Like, you can feel sorry for them, and that's probably the best thing to do is, like, realize it's not about you. And they're sad. They have a worse life than you do, probably, if they're trying to bring you down with a comment, you know? Yeah. Yeah.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So I hope, you know, that we probably... drove it home. People were like, okay, we got it, you know, but it's an important part, you know, and I do hope that people hear what we're saying, you know, and, um, I think there's definitely so much more that we could talk about. Cause I know there's like half of it. We didn't even get into, but I really am happy to have this conversation with you.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I feel like it was hopefully powerful. Hopefully it resonates with some people. I think that it will, you know, so we just got to keep trying to spread the word, find the truth, be transparent.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I think most of the team, though, really respected it because I remember doing the conditioning rounds at the end of every practice. We'd have so much conditioning to do. And I would always be trying to outwork the guys in that. realm. So we'd be running sprints or we'd be running lines back and forth. And if they were not, I always had my sights set on the next closest guy.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Oh, thank you for that, Dylan. I would say the first place that you listen to the podcast, if you get a chance, just one more time, it's Built for Growth. You can find it anywhere on any podcast platform. But the other way is on my website. It's MishaTate.com. That's M-I-E. And on there, if you go on there, it'll have a little pop-up and you can subscribe. You get 10% off.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I think that's the first time I'm doing that. But if you subscribe... I will not bombard you. Okay. So every two weeks you'll get a newsletter and I write them myself and something that I'm so proud of because it takes me the better part of two weeks to complete that.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Um, now I do have a team that puts it into an email format and does the hyperlinks cause you know, all that shit's above my pay grade. But, um, but I write it, like I take the picture myself. I write the important message. That was my takeaway. And like what we've talked about when you're like, Oh, I figured it out this week. Like I have those aha moments that I feel like so blessed with.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I'm like, I got to share this with people. And I love to be able to do that and put it in a newsletter. And I'm also certified in change psychology. So I'm a behavior change coach. I don't coach people one-on-one, but in that newsletter, you will get some of that coaching at no cost.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So I'm gonna help you with your goal setting techniques, with motivation, with mindset, with changing the things that you want, like growing in the direction that you want. It's not just passive change. You can just let life happen to you my coach, Robert Follis, who passed away, I lost him to suicide.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And he was such a big part of this motivation for me to start this podcast because as a mentor and as a friend, you know, it's like a brother to me, I miss him so much, but he left such a purpose in my life. And he, one of his favorite quotes, my favorite quotes of his was that change is inevitable. Growth is not. So it starts with a choice.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You will change from today to tomorrow to next month, regardless, because life is going to happen and you can let it passively take you wherever you want. You could let your fitness goals be passive. You can let your diet be passive. You can let your income be passive. You can let your future be passive. Life's going to happen. Or you can make a choice.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
to steer the ship a little bit, not too tight, right? We still gotta like maintain like a little balance in all of that, but we can have a lot more say if we just decide what we want out of each moment and start with the important moments. mindfulness. How do we practice these things? How do we actually get actionable about this stuff?
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Well, yeah. Now you're better for listening to the Built for Growth podcast.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Because people say all the time, oh, don't take this for granted or don't, you know, how do we do that? Where do we start? Like, that's what I love diving into with people. How can I help you start this change? I'm just going to tell you, I'm not just going to be like your parent. Don't do that or do do this. Like, no, I'm going to, I'm going to like walk you through what's
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
how I got to the place where I'm at, like small little tiny steps, how to get mindful, how to get present, how to be actionable, how to set goals, um, how to keep that, you know, momentum going. So those are the things that I'm really working on in this newsletter. Those are the things I'm talking about in the podcast.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
If they were not pushing their hardest, like I was going to beat them. And, you know, I did in those conditioning rounds, I beat a lot of them. So, um, I made them work. I made the teamwork. I held them a little bit more accountable than they probably would have liked at certain times, but, you know, they ended up embracing me and the brotherhood and everything, um, really as time went on and,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And, um, you know, the guests that I'm bringing on, I'm just trying to bring on the best people that I think can help you, you know, these people, um, Like you talked about salt, the salt myth, right? So I have one of my first podcasts is the anti-salt rhetoric and debunking that, you know, salt and electrolytes is so important for people and it's super important for athletes.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I still can't believe there are athletes out there who cut weight and don't understand the importance of electrolytes and the balance of that in their system. But I had Dr. James DeNicolantano on there and he is amazing. such a wealth of knowledge in all aspects of nutrition, but we focus mostly on salt and electrolytes for this one.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And he spent his whole life researching this stuff and it gets to go right in your ears for free. How cool, right? You'd normally like have to go to a doctor who received maybe 0.1% of their education about nutrition because it's just not how MDs are. I don't know if you guys knew that, but they're not taught about nutrition, functional, foundational, building blocks of life, muscle, brain, bone.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
They don't know anything about that unless they independently study. So I'm finding these doctors and experts who are going beyond, who do care about getting the right information out to people and trying to get it to you for free so that you can make your own decision. Don't just take my word for it. I'm not a saint. I'm not perfect. I'm sure I'll mess up a long way.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
But like, here's some food for thought. Like, please take this information and go think for yourself. Decide if this will work for you.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Absolutely. No, Dylan, we had a great pre-call before this and I knew that this was going to be a great podcast. So I appreciate the platform, the opportunity, all of it. Like I'm not taking it for granted. And I'm also excited for part two and just to see what else comes from this. You know, it's the alchemist. It's the book at work.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I feel like, you know, that kind of like you put the energy out and that's what you get back.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Yeah, I'm just grateful for all of those experiences, to be honest.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I remember that there was a moment when there was a girl that came out on the team And she was very cute. She was very cutesy. She had really, you know, tiny tight little shorts on and, you know, just not wrestler type wear. And she was, you know, yeah, she was very flirtatious and cute and giggly. She really wasn't taking practice seriously and whatnot.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
get her out of here. And you know, it was, that was the moment that I felt like they looked at me different than they looked at any other female on the team. And I always thought it was funny. And although I always wanted other females to come out on the team desperately, I wanted more girls on the team and I would try to recruit women all the time.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I did want them to be there for the right reasons, you know? And so I kind of just, you know, wrestled hard with her, wrestled tough with her, you know, just like the guys did with me. And, you know, and yeah, I mean, she didn't last. You know, there was obvious from the very beginning that she really wasn't there to wrestle.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, you know, for people who are just listening now, I mean, I'm sure you'll get into it, you know, but we met at the Olympia, um, on the Matt Monica, uh, Brandt podcast. And, um, it was great. We had a great conversation and then we just kind of like, you know, an energy is just aligned or whatever, I guess. And, and then, um,
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Oh, yeah. No, I'm going to date myself. So I think I graduated high school in 05. So 01, I think the wrestling season starts before the beginning. Yeah, before the first of the year. So like 01 into 05.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
okay all right yeah definitely not not very well actually my junior year coming from Washington state was the first year that women had a type of tournament it was called a round robin so it's just four wrestlers in a bracket there was no eliminations or anything but it was held at the state tournament so all the men who had gone through regionals divisionals and placed and were wrestling at state
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
As females, it was very rare to see a female make it through the male division. And if so, it was usually the really small weight girls because they have a more likelihood that they're wrestling for one less experienced guys because 103 pound guys usually are not seniors. And they also usually haven't gone through puberty.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
So there's a little bit of like, you know, opportunity in those somewhat smaller weight class, I think for the females to be competitive for longer.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
generally speaking um but we actually got to wrestle during the break of the men's state tournament at the Tacoma Dome in a round robin tournament round robin and I remember it was my junior year and I was so excited and I was you know still wrestling but wrestling with the better guys because after like regionals and um divisionals and those things the team starts to get smaller basically the guys that aren't
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
still continuing on to state leave the team and um their season is over so not really in the practice room anyways i ended up breaking my ankle or having my ankle broken should i say
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I didn't break it um so I didn't get to wrestle my my junior year thankfully I got a chance at redemption my senior year and which I did um win the the tournament which you know it feels like you can say that you won state or whatever but it's not quite as grand as what the guys are doing but for the women at that time that was you know the Mount Everest uh you know for us so
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
I did cross country and track as well. So a lot of running sports. And my biggest accomplishment... I still would say was the Coach's Award. It was because at that time, I had not really set my sights on winning that much because I mostly didn't win when I competed against guys. The winning or not winning wasn't my primary focus. It was being the best that I could be.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
You're like, Oh, I'd love to have you in mine. I was like, that'd be great. And then we had a pre-call and it was awesome. Like energy's just connected. And it was like, Hey, we kind of think alike. And so I've been really looking forward to continuing conversation for your listeners.
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
And I realized that I could change other people's perception of me if I just worked hard. I didn't segregate myself and I showed up every day and treated myself as an equal. And that was such a valuable lesson to learn. I really think it's the reason why I got into the UFC. Because I remember at one point Dana White was...
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
on any microphone that was asking him if women would ever be in the UFC and he was like no very adamant and I remember at that time thinking but you haven't seen me fight yet and I only have that kind of confidence because of wrestling and I knew that if he ever got a chance to see me fight that I had a really high chance of changing his mind
The Dylan Gemelli Podcast
Episode #1 with Miesha Tate! The ultimate rivalry with Rhonda Rousey, Becoming the UFC Women's Champion, Breaking the barrier for women in the UFC, The role Of God in her life, Overcoming adversity being a female wrestler and SO MUCH MORE!
Because I knew that I worked hard and I knew that because I worked hard, I was talented and I could win fights and I could make them exciting, which I believe were all the things that he was looking for to check the box. And, you know, lo and behold, some years later, it's kind of exactly how it worked out.