Submission Underground is one of the premier submission grappling professional competitions in the world. Promoted by the great Chael Sonnen and featured on the UFC Fight Pass, the events often feature elite UFC fighters competing against grapplers. UFC athletes also take on one another in the competition now and then. Cris Cyborg vs Miesha Tate was one such match-up that MMA fans would’ve relished.

Fans, yes. Dana White: not so much.

The buildup for a bout between the two iconic female mixed martial artists in a grappling contest started back in the latter half of 2020. It was Cyborg who initially called out Tate for the contest. In an interview on MMA on SiriusXM back in October 2020, Tate accepted the challenge and Cyborg claimed it would deserve its own belt.

Sadly, the matchup never materialized. Talking about it in a recent appearance on “The Catch Up with Cris Cyborg & James Lynch” show, Cyborg expressed that UFC, especially Dana White, might have had a hand behind this.

READ MORE: “It’s What the Fans Want” – Cris Cyborg Has an Interesting Offer for Dana White

“He doesn’t want this to happen. She wants to have a couple of fights more, she says it’s not the end of the line, now she can have the opportunity to do this fight in the future. She said she’d really like to do [it] but you know the story. Dana wants nothing to do with Cyborg… But I believe in the future maybe the fans would like to watch, ” Cyborg said.

Could we ever see Cris Cyborg vs Miesha Tate

The answer to whether Dana White blocked out the Submission Underground grappling match was made clearer by Miesha Tate in a recent appearance on SiriusXM.

READ MORE: “He Should Do Something Other Than Thinking About Himself” – Cris Cyborg Hits out at Dana White

“I’ll be honest with you, Cris, when I talked with Dana White about it, he said, ‘No’. He wouldn’t let me. And I know you guys have had your things or whatever, but he just had it. He just didn’t like it. And I’m still under UFC contract,” said Tate.

The feud between White and Cyborg has been much publicized over the years. White has maintained that Cyborg was one of the most difficult fighters to deal with in the UFC.

READ MORE: Fighting Cris Cyborg is on Her ‘Radar’ Says Cat Zingano

Meanwhile, Cyborg, who departed, signed a deal with Bellator. Currently, she is the promotion’s featherweight champion and is open to the grappling bout. Also, ‘Cupcake’, who has fights left on her UFC contract (and will return this year), has said that it’s not dead yet. So it’s certainly still on.

Could the two legends of the sport ever face each other in combat? What do you think?