Tate earned her shot after a dominant points decision win over Jessica “Evil” Eye on the weekend.
The match-up will depend on the outcome of Rousey’s title bout with Bethe Correia at UFC 190 this weekend, but the undefeated Rousey is heavily favoured to reclaim her belt.
UFC president Dana White confirmed the match-up during the press conference for ‘UFC on Fox 16’ where Tate defeated Eye last weekend.
“Yeah, she is [No. 1 contender],” he said.
“You know, Miesha is such a durable human being. She will stand in front of you and take what you’ve got – because she was getting picked apart in that first round.
“She keeps coming forward to land what she has to land, or get you to the ground, or do what she has to do to win. She did it again tonight.
“She has worked her way back to Ronda Rousey.”
In the same press conference, Tate said it didn’t matter if Rousey or Corriea held the belt when she challenged, but added: “I love punching Ronda in the face.”
Rousey and Tate first fought on a Strikeforce event in 2012 with Rousey picking up a win courtesy of her customary armbar submission.
In their rematch in 2013, Tate became the first person to past the first round with Rousey before losing via submission in the third round.