UFC legend Miesha Tate once again spoke about Aspen Ladd after the two had their beef a few weeks ago. This time the subject of coaches dating fighters came up after it was mentioned that Ladd is in a relationship with her coach Jim West.
Miesha Tate went on The MMA Hour and discussed the controversial subject. She understands because she once was in the same situation back in her first UFC run.
“Absolutely, especially your lead coach,” the UFC legend said. “I would absolutely say you don’t want that, and that’s where Johnny and I differ very much from what I was used to in that, yes, he’s in my corner, he’s a part of my camps, he does teach me things sometimes, but I see us as equals, and I think he recognizes that, too. Sometimes, I show him things. We don’t have someone who’s in charge of the other one — we are just there to support each other, because it’s difficult when someone always gets to be the boss of you, and that translates over into the personal life, too, where you just start to feel like you lose yourself. Because where do you draw the line? Where’s the difference?
“If somebody always gets to be the boss of you, and it’s 24-7, pretty soon you’re swallowed up in that, especially if you’re not with the right person to give you that guidance,” the UFC bantamweight continued. “It’s a very tricky thing to do. I don’t think very many people are able to make a head coach relationship [work] — and it’s always women. It’s always women that end up dating their head coach. We haven’t really seen it in reverse, so I’m not sure what that would look like in the reverse, but I can speak from my situation that, for the most part, it was detrimental, and the longer that it went, it was detrimental.”
It's an interesting subject that affects many athletes in the UFC. It is also one that won't be going away for a very long time.