Show 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.
GET A FREE GUIDE TO EXAMPLES OF MISOGI. GO TO https://www.twopct.com AND ENTER YOUR EMAIL.
I share similar insights around health and wellness here:
https://substack.com/@michaeleaster
https://instagram.com/michael_easter/
https://linkedin.com/in/michael-easter-b208848/
https://facebook.com/easter.michael
https://tiktok.com/@michael_easter6
https://x.com/Michael_Easter
Chapters:
00:00 — Cold open: ready to die, prepared as a man, hit in the face
02:33 — The choke-Robby joke
03:00 — Why she joined the all-boys wrestling team at 14
06:40 — Redefining what a "win" looks like
11:00 — How she found MMA in a college dorm hallway
14:35 — Her first MMA fight: three weeks of prep, 50 bucks, broken nose
19:25 — The blood pool on the mat: "I'm going to kick her ass"
21:24 — Her corner threw in the towel
23:30 — The walkout: "It's almost like a possession"
27:00 — When the toxic relationship started drowning the focus
29:30 — The lie she told herself: "The title will fix everything"
32:00 — The Holly Holm fight, round by round
36:30 — "She was punching the air because she was dreaming"
37:10 — Two weeks. The title didn't fix anything.
38:00 — Amanda Nunes, Hashimoto's, and a horrible weight cut
40:35 — Why getting punched is how some fighters wake up
42:49 — Failure as a teacher: how the brain actually learns
46:12 — Parenting two fighter kids: the coin at the bottom of the pool
51:30 — The best fight of her career, the first one she prepared for as a woman
53:00 — Why training to a male hormone model wrecks female athletes
58:00 — Amenorrhea and the year-long recovery
1:02:00 — 80% of autoimmune disease is in women. Why.
1:04:13 — Advice to men: shut up and do more in the luteal phase
1:06:22 — Packing the car and driving up the coast after retirement
1:08:24 — "I was honestly contemplating taking my own life."
1:09:30 — Gabor Maté, eczema gone, the healing layer by layer
1:12:00 — The decision to come back as a fighter (and as a woman)
1:14:30 — Her message to women: do the hard thing
1:16:35 — Justin Gaethje at Freedom 250
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
Stay Connected
