Former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Miesha “Cupcake” Tate earned another shot at UFC title gold with an impressive Unanimous Decision win tonight at UFC on FOX 16: “Dillashaw vs Barao 2” in Chicago, Illinois. Tate defeated Jessica “Evil” Eye in the 135-pound co-main event.

Just as she has done in other recent fights, Tate rallied back after a shaky start tonight and dominated Eye in the later rounds to take a clear victory on the scorecards. Earlier tonight, Elizabeth Phillips avenged a past amateur loss by outpointing Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke on the preliminary card.

Tate (17-5-0) traded strikes with Eye (11-3-0, 1 ND) throughout the first three minutes of tonight’s co-feature, and it was Eye who got the better of the striking exchanges by repeatedly scoring with stiff jabs and right hands. Tate’s face began to swell up and Eye stunned her with a combination. Just when Tate appeared to be on the receiving end of a one-sided striking clinic, she countered jabs from Eye by dropping her with a powerful right hook. Tate dove into Eye’s half-guard and finished the round strong with short elbow strikes from the top.

The fighters exchanged punches on the feet in round two and Tate rocked Eye with a right hand. She dropped her with another right hook seconds later and spent most of the round landing elbows to Eye’s ribs. Tate transitioned to a guillotine choke late in the round and Eye was saved by the bell. Eye kept her distance and threw single kicks and punches in the final round until Tate took her down and moved to back control. The fighters were stood up after a stalemate and Eye landed knees and elbows in the final seconds of the entertaining fight.

Tate’s dominance was clear and all three judges correctly scored the fight 30-27 in her favour. She has now won four straight fights and is in line to challenge the winner of next Saturday’s UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship bout between Tate’s bitter rival, champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, and contender Bethe “Pitbull” Correia at UFC 190.

Winner: Miesha Tate by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) after three rounds. She improves to 17-5-0.

In contrast to Tate’s performance tonight, Phillips (5-3-0) got off to an excellent start in her rematch with Duke (3-3-0, 1 NC) before fatiguing badly in the final round. She controlled the striking exchanges in round one and mounted Duke after fending off an armbar attempt. Phillips landed numerous strikes from the top and she tried for a rear-naked choke late in the round, but Duke escaped into her guard.

Duke tried to pull guard with a guillotine choke in the middle stanza, but Phillips landed on top in side control and she mounted Duke again after scoring with short elbows. Duke gave up her back and Phillips worked for a rear-naked choke and a guillotine choke, then fought off a heel hook attempt from Duke before time expired. Phillips slowed way down in the final round and Duke nearly finished her with guillotines and a Brabo choke. She took Phillips down again late in the round and locked on a tight armbar, but the final bell sounded and the bout went to the scorecards.

All three judges saw it 29-28 for an exhausted but happy Phillips, who saved herself from the UFC cut list by handing Duke her third straight defeat. Phillips previously suffered contentious decision losses in each of her first two UFC bouts.

Winner: Elizabeth Phillips by Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) after three rounds. She improves to 5-3-0.

(Photo Credit: UFC)