Earlier today on Yahoo, I saw a headline regarding the Tate-Rousey feud. After reading the article, I was amazed to discover that former Strikeforce champ Miesha Tate will now be coaching against UFC champ Ronda Rousey. Long story short, Cat Zingano, who was supposed to coach, injured her knee and had to bow out. Dana White called Tate to fill in and she said yes. Since the biggest grudge match in MMA today is now going to happen, UFC fans (including myself) are ecstatic. However, considering how the events unfolded, I'm wondering if God is using this to accomplish something much greater.
After all, I saw the match between Zingano and Tate. Zingano won fair and square, and if Kate Winslow hadn't stopped that bout, Tate wouldn't have a face left. In an instant, Tate lost a chance to coach and get a title shot on the first ever season of "The Ultimate Fighter" to have female coaches. However, now, she miraculously gets reinstated as a coach and title challenger in one fell swoop. Tate is an elite fighter, but there is no way she can claim that she earned this. God gave it to her as a gift. I truly believe that Jesus will use this to lead her to Him. Am I saying that my prayers were the only factor here? Absolutely not. Do I believe that God has listened to them? Oh Heaven Yeah!
Now, obviously, I was not praying for Zingano to get injured. I'm a huge fan of "Alpha" and think that she is a humble and classy fighter. I loved her brutal honesty after the match where she admitted that she was scared to death of Tate and really looked up to her. Nor am I saying that God gets enjoyment out of letting athletes get their joints blown out. That simply is not true. Sometimes, though, God allows bad things to happen so that His work can be seen in the lives of people. I believe that it was His will that Tate would get this coaching spot, and I also believe that He will use it to reveal Himself to Tate. For that reason, I prayed for fifteen minutes at church tonight that He would use "The Ultimate Fighter" to lead her to salvation. As I was praying, Vitor Belfort and Benson Henderson came to mind as well. I prayed that those two Christian fighters would have an impact on Tate as well. At any rate, Jesus Christ has shown that He has been listening to my prayers, and I will no longer doubt Him as I continue to pray on the behalf of MMA fighters.
For more on how Tate became a coach on "The Ultimate Fighter", see the following link to Yahoo!Sports:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mma--ronda-rousey-shocked-as-miesha-tate-replaces-an-injured-cat-zingano-on-ufc-s--tuf--show-233340082.html
