Pannie Kianzad calls for Miesha Tate fight at UFC London: 'I see it being a great step for me'
Pannie Kianzad is eyeing a former champion next.
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Pannie Kianzad is eyeing a former champion next.
Kianzad (15-6 MMA, 4-3 UFC), who saw her four-fight winning streak snapped at the hands of Raquel Pennington in September, thinks a matchup with Miesha Tate makes perfect sense.
Since coming out of retirement in early 2021, Tate has split her two appearances. She had a TKO finish of Marion Reneau in July, followed by a unanimous decision loss to Ketlen Vieira in the UFC Fight Night 198 headliner in November.
“I mean, we both lost to ‘Rocky,’ right?” Kianzad told MMA Junkie. “If you look at the rankings, there is nobody left (other) than me and her that’s not injured, been pregnant or pregnant, waiting to deliver, injured or already matched. So if you look at it, I don’t see why not. And she just said no to Aspen Ladd, so I’m not seeing that many choices for her, either. If you look at it, if she doesn’t want to fight Aspen Ladd, I don’t see any other girls out there.
“I don’t see any other possibilities – if you can name one, of course. But I don’t see anybody that she hasn’t already fought or lost against or just won against. I don’t know, but I just think it’s a good matchup. I’m like this: When I got into UFC, that was the goal of my life, OK? But now when I’m there, I don’t want to waste time. I just turned 30. Maybe that’s like a crisis thing, but I just feel like I want to fight. I just don’t want to wait it out.”
Tate (19-8 MMA, 6-5 UFC) has been going back-and-forth with Ladd, taking aim at her for her issues on the scale. But after Tate shot down the idea of fighting Ladd, Kianzad thinks she’s the only other option for the former UFC bantamweight champion.
And if she can beat Tate, Kianzad is more than happy to take the Ladd fight.
“I always respect my opponents, like highest level, because what we’re doing is the highest level,” Kianzad said. “(I’m a) big fan of her for many years. I’ve be following her career. When she came back, she said she wants to be champ. She don’t want to just fight once and just be done with it. But if you want to be champ, then you have to go through all of us that have been here when you went away, that worked their way up and everything.
“So that’s what I’m thinking. She’s a bit of the old generation and I’m a bit a part of the new generation, but still like a veteran. So I just think it will be a good matchup, and just like I said, she lost to ‘Rocky,’ as well. I see it being a great step for me in this division. I feel that I could get back on track and erase my loss against ‘Rocky’ when I win this fight. She doesn’t want to fight Aspen. I’ll fight Aspen after I beat Miesha.”
Kianzad hopes to fight Tate at the rumored UFC London card, which is targeted for March 19.
“I heard she wants to fight in March, as well,” Kianzad said. “I’m planning it all out for her. It’s all perfect and for the matchmakers. It’s been a lot of talk about this Aspen thing, and I just think the focus has been not on the right stuff. Her focus has been on Aspen’s relationship, training – forget about that. You don’t want to fight her? Fight me instead. I don’t want to hear about what people think about other people’s relationship and fighting and coaches and everything. I just want to get this going.”
Related Stories
- Pannie Kianzad calls for Miesha Tate fight at UFC London: 'I see it being a great step for me' - Enclosure
- Frustrated Gregor Gillespie still waiting for fight that propels him – like uninterested Tony Ferguson
- Ahead of UFC 271 rematch, Robert Whittaker says ego cost him in loss to champ Israel Adesanya