The look of sheer elation on the face of UFC bantamweight champion Miesha Tate seconds after she captured the gold from Holly Holm can still be seen if you look in her eyes as she describes what life has been like as a title holder in the world’s number one MMA promotion.

“It has been an insane whirlwind but I’m loving every second of it,” Tate told TSN.ca. “It has been very busy but there has been a lot of love a lot of interest and a lot of support.”

The champion has found herself in Australia, New York and Toronto just over the past week, recounting the story of how she overcame a four round deficit on the judges’ cards to lock in a rear naked choke and wrestle the title away from Holm. A moment she is still trying to find the proper way to express.

“It’s hard to put into words what it’s like to accomplish your dream and to capture the world title,” said Tate. “It’s very difficult to describe, but it’s like being on top of the mountain and taking in that view of everything you’ve ever worked for. It’s a pretty wonderful feeling.”

A wonderful feeling that almost didn’t happen for Tate. After defeating Jessica Eye in July of 2015, UFC president Dana White confirmed that the Tacoma, Washington native was the number one contender for the belt, but eventually gave the title fight to Holm.

In the aftermath of that decision, Tate contemplated retiring from professional fighting.

“I’m a very a passionate person and I don’t take getting a title shot lightly and when I thought I was going to get one and then it was renounced I was frustrated because It meant so much to me, it was my whole life and so important,” said Tate. “I was afraid that since they took that away I wasn’t ever going to get a title shot and it made me wonder what am I even doing this for?”

Rather than hang them up however, Tate bided her time and was eventually rewarded when Holm upset Ronda Rousey and accepted a title fight for UFC 196.

Holm has since come under criticism for not waiting to face Rousey in a big money rematch later in the year, but wanting to be a fighting champion is a trait the current champion shares with the former.

“I want to stay active, I don’t want to be out for too long and with no real anticipated return time (for Rousey) I don’t want to sit around, I don’t want to collect dust, I want to defend my belt,” said Tate. “That’s how you prove that you’re the best and I want to continue to prove that I’m the best.”

From the moment White put the bantamweight title around Tate’s waist, fighters in the bantamweight division from Rousey to Cat Zingano have begun angling for a shot at the champ. Having been a top ranked fighter for years, the champion is used to being called out.

“I feel like I’ve always had a good portion of the division gunning for me because I’ve been the number one contender for so long,” said Tate. “People knew that if they can beat me, that fight would put them in that spot, I was viewed as a potential stepping stone. It’s normal to me and I think a lot of people underestimate me, I go into a lot of fights as the underdog and I keep winning fights and beating people. It doesn’t bother me at all.”

Having risen to the top of MMA, Tate is also trying to find her way to the top of the iTunes charts as well.

“I recently launched my podcast The Miesha Tate Show, it’s not really an MMA podcast despite what most people would think, I interview interesting people and have conversations about their lives and once a month I do a Q and A with the fans where I take questions. “

Since making her debut in 2007 to capturing the UFC bantamweight title in 2016, Tate has seen the total transformation of women’s MMA and has proudly fought her way to the top.

“It’s been a crazy transition, the first six fights I fought for free and I was fighting in bar settings or casino settings and most of them were in boxing rings because cages were not commonly accessible, it was a crazy journey,” said Tate. “It’s like going from bread crumbs to a feast, I was eating crumbs and now I’m queen of the feast table, it’s pretty awesome.”