Two Percent with Michael Easter

UFC Champion Miesha Tate On How to Wake Up After Life Punches You In The Face


Published: 9 June 2026 at 08:10 Europe/London

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Episode notes

Miesha Tate became UFC women's bantamweight champion by choking out Holly Holm in the fifth round at the MGM Grand. Two weeks after the highest moment of her life, she realized the title hadn't fixed anything. The next loss almost ended her. She packed her dog into a Kia, drove up the coast, and rebuilt herself layer by layer. She came back to fighting on her own terms, synced to her hormonal cycle for the first time in 15 years, and called the comeback the best fight of her life.

In this episode, Michael Easter sits down with Miesha and they go deep on what she learned walking onto an all-boys high school wrestling team. They unpack her first MMA fight where she fell in love with fighting, despite a broken nose. Then they get into why winning a world title left her contemplating suicide. They explore what Gabor Maté's books changed for her. And they name the single biggest mistake she made for 15 years of her career: training from a male model of fighting instead of from a women’s biological reality, hormonal cycle and all.

Two Percent is hosted by Michael Easter. Today’s episode was produced by Joey Fischground, Robbie Hiser, Dana Brawer and Julia Nutter. From Kaleidoscope, our executive producers are Mangesh Hattikudur and Kate Osborn and Julia Nutter. From iHeart, our executive producers are Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore. Our Head of Video is Maria Paz Mendez Hodes. This episode was edited by Will Mayo. Our theme music is by the Heater Manager.

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