Morning Report: Miesha Tate explains 'shocking' incident between Ronda Rousey and Paige VanZant

UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate was a guest yesterday on The Joe Rogan Experience, and predictably it didn't take long for the conversation to turn to Ronda Rousey.

First the usual paces were accounted for -- Tate talked about the rivalry, and the fact that the two will likely never be friends -- but then Tate broke off to something else entirely and unloaded a story from a V.I.P. function relayed to her by popular UFC strawweight Paige VanZant. Catch the exchange below.

Tate: "[Paige] came up to me like, ‘Miesha, I have to tell you this experience I had with Ronda.' I'm like, oh, what? She was like, ‘well, we were at Reebok deal recently, we were at a shoot and I was trying to find her so we could get a picture. And the Reebok people were like, ‘don't ask Ronda for a picture.' She was like, why? They're like, ‘just don't. Just stay away from Ronda. Don't ask her for a picture.'

"I guess Ronda came later that day and sought her out and just cussed her out. Like, they had never really had a conversation either. [Paige] was like, ‘I don't know Ronda other than hi/bye. That's it.' I guess Ronda came up and was like, ‘f*ck you, you fair-weather b*tch! How dare you cross me? Blah, blah, blah.' She was like, ‘cross you? What are you talking about?' And [Ronda] was like, ‘you congratulated Holly Holm for beating me, so f*ck you, you f*cking fair-weather 115-pound...' Just went off on Paige. Paige came and told me and I was like, honey, welcome to my world.

"She was like, ‘oh my gosh, I'm glad that I saw this side of her so I know, because I didn't understand. I told Ronda, I'm sorry if that offended you, but I'm allowed to congratulate whoever I want. I congratulated Rose Namajunas when she beat me. I was like, you know, you whooped my ass. That was a badass performance. I just simply told Holly congratulations once. It wasn't anything anti-Ronda.' But Ronda, I guess, just ripped her a new one."

Rogan: "Wow. Like you have to be on Team Ronda for life?"

Tate: "Yeah, I guess. I've never been on Team Ronda, so I'm good."

(content removed)

In case you were wondering, VanZant confirmed Tate's story within hours of the clip going viral, calling the incident "very shocking and totally unnecessary" in a statement to TMZ, which is pretty fitting considering this may be the most TMZ post I've ever written up.

So, dear readers, what did we learn? Well, Miesha Tate still doesn't like Ronda Rousey very much, and for the love of God please don't ask Rousey for a picture if you've said something nice about Holly Holm over the past seven months.

Fun times! And with that, let's get that morning coffee ready and dive headfirst into some headlines.

5 MUST-READ STORIES

The gang is back. Ariel Helwani and The MMA Beat crew are back in action talking Lawler-Woodley, UFC on FOX 20 plans, Conor McGregor and more.

T-Ferg vs. Beardman. A lightweight tilt between Tony Ferguson and Michael Chiesa is in the works to headline the UFC's debut in South Dakota. I dig the fight, but man, it feels like Ferguson is going to have to win 15 in a row to get a title shot.

Replacement for the replacement. Evan Dunham was withdrawn from his UFC 199 bout against James Vick for undisclosed reasons. If you're keeping score at home, that means a replacement opponent is being sought to fight the replacement opponent. Yay, MMA.

To GSP or not to GSP? Georges St-Pierre is basically the only legend of this sport who retired on top. Should he return for one last go-round? The stars of UFC 198 debate.

Ouch. English may not be her first language, but Cris Cyborg dropped the line of the day: "Ronda always runs away from me. I saw her shadowboxing at the beach and her shadow won."

EXTRA CREDIT READING

The king of punani. You guys, Steven Seagal did a Reddit 'Ask Me Anything' yesterday. It was pretty much a dumpster fire.

MEDIA STEW

I have no idea what's going on here, but Miesha can crush some cupcakes.

Guy: "All those splits and the kicking the trees, is that actually how Van Damme trains?"

Diaz: "I think that's how one should train."

Never change, Nick. Never change.

This is an oldie but a goodie: Nate Diaz post-fight at WEC 21. Poor Ron Kruk was not prepared for the direction this interview headed.

This clip isn't even that interesting. It's just that hair... it's too glorious not to post.

If Conor McGregor losing his spot at UFC 200 means we get two more months of Jones-DC dominating TTTHS, that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

A double-dose of TTTHS! What a day.

EXTRA CREDIT LISTENING

Tyron Woodley goes HAM on a caller who doesn't think he deserves his title shot. This should be a regular segment.

TWEETS

Again, if you have any information about this situation, please contact the Delray Beach Police Department at 561-243-7810.

#BREAKING Range Rover Sport sought in hit-and-run death of MMA fighter is caught on camera. https://t.co/dfMsjr5HAl pic.twitter.com/aeY3YtjkKo

— WPEC CBS12 News (@CBS12) May 5, 2016

I dig the theme here.

"Wonder Woman" @rachaelostovich returns this Saturday at #InvictaFC17! pic.twitter.com/5fOFKn0YGS

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) May 5, 2016

Hello Clarice.... (ft. Aline "Hannibal" Serio) #InvictaFC17 pic.twitter.com/vnkY97UFNZ

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) May 5, 2016

Warriors come out and play. @AngieOverkill || #InvictaFC17 pic.twitter.com/D96kzAcFzU

— Invicta FC (@InvictaFights) May 6, 2016

The team at EA call their shot for Sunday.

It's all over!!! ________ by TKO!!!!! #UFCRotterdamhttps://t.co/QBsXgBp5wD

— EA SPORTS UFC (@EASPORTSUFC) May 5, 2016

"I would show up in a tutu and wearing army boots."

.@notsleeeping #AskCaraway pic.twitter.com/KvOfJXcUV6

— UFC Fight Pass (@UFCFightPass) May 5, 2016

"Cowboy & BJ" really, really needs to be the next Fight Pass series.

Got @bjpenndotcom teaching me the ways . Or maybe I'm teaching him to LIVE? pic.twitter.com/oBxLNwKzZf

— Cowboy Cerrone (@Cowboycerrone) May 5, 2016

Rafael dos Anjos keeping the dream alive for that Red Panty Night.

Brown belt and don't know how to tie the belt, what a joke ||--->>>Faixa marrom e@não sabe amarrar a faixa, que fanfarrão

A photo posted by Rafael Dos Anjos (@rdosanjosmma) on May 5, 2016 at 7:09am PDT

Just saying, Demetrious Johnson seems like the coolest dad ever.

Fuck the noise of the running man challenge- May the 4th be with you

A video posted by Demetrious Johnson (@mightymouse125) on May 4, 2016 at 6:49pm PDT

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

• Evangelista Santos (21-16) vs. Saad Awad (18-7), Bellator 154
• Adam Piccolotti (7-0) vs. Ray Wood (7-1), Bellator 154

TODAY IN MMA HISTORY - MAY 6

1994: Japanese MMA legend Yuki Nakai defeated Kyuhei Ueno via arm-triangle choke in the fifth round. If you don't know who Nakai is go look him up. He is the first Japanese BJJ black belt in history and famously was permanently blinded in his right eye during a fight with Gerard Gordeau, an injury which he hid for years to preserve the sport of MMA.

2006: Roxanne Modafferi avenged her loss to former Smackgirl open-weight champion Megumi Yabushita winning a unanimous decision at G-Shooto: G-Shooto 05.

2010: Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez defeated Josh Neer by rear-naked choke in a 160 lb. catch-weight super fight at Bellator 17. The card also feature semifinal bouts of Bellator's lightweight tournament where Pat Curran won a unanimous decision over Roger Huerta and Tobey Imada submitted Carey Vanier with an armbar.

2011: Ian McCall earned a shot at the Tachi Palace Fights flyweight championship by defeating Dustin Ortiz by unanimous decision at TPF 9: The Contenders. Also on the card, featherweight champion Isaac DeJesus failed to make weight for a scheduled title defense against Russ Miura and was stripped of the belt. The two agreed to a catch-weight bout which DeJesus won via TKO in the first round but the victory was later overturned to a no contest when DeJesus tested positive for marijuana.

Birthdays:

1986: UFC middleweight Sam Alvey was born.

1989: UFC lightweight Beneil Dariush was born.

Think we missed a spot? Found something you'd like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit up @JedKMeshew on Twitter and he'll include it in Monday's column.