By: Luis Petty |Staff Writer|

Women’s Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) has long struggled to become recognized and legitimized by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

Womens’s MMA was given a division in the UFC last year, and now the possibility of a fight between two renowned women may “make a mockery of the sport,” according to former UFC title challenger Miesha Tate.

President of UFC, Dana White said to UFC Tonight that he would give Gina Carano an immediate shot at the title last month on April 9 and confirmed that Carano will be fighting Ronda Rousey for the championship title in UFC 175.

“I really feel that it’s just kind of a joke” stated Tate in an interview with MMAjunkie radio.

The UFC signed 11 female fighters in December 11, 2012 with Rousey at the helm as the first women’s UFC champion and title holder.

Previous Strikeforce champion Rousey is the current women’s bantamweight title holder after defending her title against Liz Carmouche in the first women’s UFC fight last year, February 23, 2013. Rousey has a record of 9 wins 0 losses for MMA and 3 wins 0 losses for the UFC.

On the other hand, Gina Carano has been out of MMA since 2009 when she turned to acting. Before her decision to become an actress, Carano has a record of 9 wins, 1 lose in MMA.  She was considered to be one of the greatest female fighters of her time.

Tate explains that women fighters have worked hard to legitimize women’s MMA, and that the sport should be treated with much more respect rather than turning it into a money-making machine.

“Women’s MMA has been working to legitimize ourselves for so long, and we finally broke the ice, we’re finally in the UFC, and we’re getting some credibility. Don’t take that away by putting a fight together that is based entirely on looks, and has little to nothing to do with skill set,” said Tate to MMAjunkie radio.

Tate explains that Carano should get into the cage and fight her way to a title shot like everyone else and maintain the integrity of women’s MMA.

“If Gina is serious about making a comeback, then I think I would be the perfect person for her to step into a fight against,” said Tate.

Tate emphasized that she is not insinuating that Carano is unworthy of competing in the UFC, but believes that she should do things properly and win fights in the Octagon through conviction and hard work.