Miesha Tate sides with “Cowboy” in JacksonWink beef

Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will no longer be training at JacksonWink MMA. Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show this week, Cerrone explained why, citing a growing distaste for the Albuquerque gym’s coaching staff, and the fact that they agreed to train his upcoming opponent “Platinum” Mike Perry. 

This very public falling out between Cerrone and JacksonWink has the MMA community divided. Some fans and pundits are siding with the gym, while others are steadfastly on team Cowboy. File former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate into the latter category.

Speaking on MMA Tonight on SiriusXM Fight Nation, Miesha Tate explained why she believes JacksonWink is in the wrong in this situation.

“I feel like we’ve heard this story about this camp before when it was Rashad Evans and him feeling like he was pushed out of the spot with Jon Jones coming in,” Miesha Tate said (transcript via MMA Fighting).

“What I think is not cool, if it had been someone that had been training there like Carlos Condit or someone like that who had been training there a long time and they were gonna fight each other and both had that mutual respect, and mutual foundation at that gym, that’s different. But when the new guy is coming in and he’s like, ‘I wanna fight Cowboy’ and he comes to Cowboy’s gym, I think that the right thing to do by the gym – I think there’s some loyalty that should be towards Cowboy. He’s been there a really, really long time.”

Miesha Tate then added that, in her eyes, this whole situation could have been handled much more tactfully by the Albuquerque gym.

“‘This is probably not the camp for you to come in, Mike, because you’re fighting our boy. Cowboy has been with us forever. We’d love for you to come in for the next camp but Cowboy’s our dude,’” Tate said. “That’s how I think. Even though I know Cowboy doesn’t drive there every single day, he doesn’t train at the gym – there are some other reasons I think behind that, I think – that’s just me. That’s how I hope my gym would operate if I was under those circumstances.”

What do you think of Miesha Tate’s take on the situation?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/31/2018.