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Ronda Rousey called her shot.
After waging a media crusade that would make Chael Sonnen blush, the red-hot 24-year-old prospect has been granted a title shot against Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate, according to reports from MMA Weekly.
Strikeforce officials have yet to confirm the bout, however it is reportedly scheduled for March 3rd in Columbus, Ohio.
Safe to say, Rousey's (4-0) sudden rise and subsequent feud with Tate has reignited public interest in the women's divisions. After ripping through four-straight armbar victories in a combined 2:18, "Rowdy" fanned the flames of controversy by proclaiming the need for her to be fast-tracked to the top.
"I really feel 100 percent that a fight between (Miesha Tate) and me needs to happen," Rousey famously told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani. "It'll be great for women's MMA. It'll be the first highly anticipated fight in women's MMA for a long time ... We need to capitalize on the opportunity while we still have it. I don't want to risk her losing the title and us not being able to fight each other for the title."
Tate (12-2), a five-year veteran and winner of six straight, vehemently bristled at the notion of Rousey taking the shortcut to stardom and publicly campaigned for a rematch with top contender Sarah Kaufman. However her calls ultimately fell on deaf ears, and women's MMA appears to be getting it's first super-fight since Cris "Cyborg" bested Gina Carano in 2009.
"When you look at an MMA fighter, you have to look at the total package and the level of experience," Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker explained last month. "The combat skill that Ronda has is far greater than a beginning fighter that's only had two or three fights. She still is young in her career, but with that Olympic experience and all those matches in judo, it makes her very credible, very quickly."
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