Are women fighters the future of MMA?
By Chris Headrick
In the last few years, there has been a noticeable increase of women in mixed martial arts, but that’s primarily because UFC President Dana White finally said yes to women in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and because of the media’s consistent coverage of that most storied and popular outlet.
Despite being thought of as taboo by many, it’s clear that there is not only a place for women in MMA, but a place in the lime light.
Women have actually been participating in mixed martial arts long before it began to enjoy a little popularity. But what is the future of women in mixed martial arts? Is it just a passing fad, or here to say?
To try and answer that question, we need to look a little bit at the history of women in mixed martial arts, take a close look at the evolution of their involvement in the sport, and finally look at current events, fighters, and efforts being made to further women’s participation.
More from MMA
- Nikita Krylov looks to move into contender’s status with win over Ryan Spann (video)
- Jessica Andrade blames her breasts for UFC Vegas 69 loss
- Bellator shares emotional tribute to Yaroslav Amosov upon return from war (Video)
- UFC Vegas 70: Tatiana Suarez is the fighter to watch
- Sage Northcutt talks about MMA return, first KO loss & ONE Championship’s historic US card
Women have been fighting in one form another farther back than can be documented, but their documented involvement in mixed martial arts can at least be traced back to December of 2000 when an all-women’s tournament was held at the famous Nippon Budokan in Tokyo, Japan.
The ReMix Word Cup had twelve women fighters
enter that contest, including an american pioneer in women’s mixed martial arts,
.
There were other all-female organizations during those early days, such as Smackgirl (formed after financial problems with ReMix), U-Top, AX, and K-Grace.
As mixed martial arts grew in popularity in Japan, and especially men’s MMA, the all-girl organizations petered out, but even many of the men’s tournaments often had women as a part of the cards. In short, women were still competing if on a limited basis. Women’s participation in MMA wouldn’t gain the popularity it enjoys today though until we began to see more of it in the United States.
Organizations such as King of the Cage, Bellator MMA, and Shark Fights invited women to compete in some of their tournaments, but some of the experiences for some of those early pioneers in women’s MMA were anything but pleasant, and women were often viewed merely as sexual objects, given little respect for their fighting prowess.
One of those early pioneers in women’s MMA, Julie Kedzie, wrote very frankly on Fightland about some of those horrible experiences she had when fighting in some of those early tournaments.
"But I will say that some of the other shows that I fought weren’t so good. I’ve had people pinch my ass on the way to the cage. Sometimes the male fighters were really supportive and sometimes they were horrible. I had one guy say, “I’m going to **** you in your mouth.” Just horrible, horrible things said to me. People not paying you much, people disrespecting you, being moved in a card over and over again so that you’re the last fight of the night and no one is there to watch. All sorts of things have happened like that to me, but I think that the struggle has helped me appreciate what I’m doing more."
Respect for women in MMA took a positive turn when Zuffa, LLC (parent company of the UFC – Ultimate Fighting Championship) acquired Strikeforce (one of the more prestigious tournaments women had been invited to compete in) during March 0f 2011, but there were still serious questions about the future of women in MMA.
Even after Zuffa acquired Strikeforce, it still wasn’t clear whether the most popular MMA organization in the world – the UFC, would take to women’s MMA. At first, UFC President Dana White resisted the idea, mainly due to the fact that he didn’t feel there was enough depth among women to create such a division.
That would change though when Ronda Rousey came to White’s attention, and in fact White has said that Ronda Rousey is the primary reason he relented and decided to include women in the UFC. If you’ve ever seen Rousey fight, then Dana White’s decision needs little explanation.
To put it mildly, Ronda Rousey is so good, and has been so dominant, that she’s left little question about how popular women’s MMA in the UFC can be.
The problem with Rousey though, is actually Rousey herself!
Live Feed
Daily DDT
To put it bluntly, Rousey has been so dominant in women’s MMA, that few have ever even come close to beating her, and whether it’s the men or women’s division, fans like to see competitive fights and well-round cards. Nothing is worse to the fans than fights that end seconds into the first round, and Rousey’s dominance, while good for women’s MMA, could actually hurt the future of women’s MMA.
Fans expected a better fight recently when Rousey took on Alexis Davis in UFC 175 and defeated her easily just 16 seconds into the first round. That fight clearly showed what most know (if not everyone agrees), that Rousey is by far the most dominant woman fighter in MMA today. That very fact means the UFC has work to do in getting more well-rounded and competitive in terms of women.
Oh, people still tune in to see the women fight (especially Rousey), but they were tuning in pretty well in other venus for Gina Carano’s fights as well. Carano is still arguably one of the most popular MMA fighters among women in the world, making her debut in Strikeforce against Elaina Maxwell, and winning that debut with a unanimous decision on December 8, 2006.
Strikeforce became the first to have a female bout as a main event in 2009, and Gina Carano and Cristiane Santos were headliners. That fight drew in 856,000 viewers, and even though Santos beat Carano in that fight, Carano had done much of the work popularizing women’s MMA. She would go on to more fame by transitioning to entertainment, and starring in Haywire in 2011 (great movie!), Fast and Furious 6, and others.
Carano had a huge hand in helping popularize women in MMA, but Rousey has taken those reins now and is forging ahead as a much more respected fighter than Carano, with a much more impressive skill set.
There are rumors circulating that Rhonda Rousey and Gina Carano could battle each other in the near future. According to a report by Marc Raimondi of Fox Sports, UFC President Dana White has made it a personal goal to get these two in the ring in the UFC soon, and Raimondi asks a relevant question with regard to this question of the future of women in MMA:
"Does White’s new-found perseverance to sign Carano have anything to do with UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey decimating Alexis Davis last week in just 16 seconds? It’s probably no coincidence that the UFC hammered out a deal with former championship boxer Holly Holm on Thursday and now seems hell-bent on inking Carano. It’s probably only a matter of time before Cris Cyborg enters the picture, too."
As Marc’s report alludes to, now that Dana White has stepped fully into women in the UFC, he’s certainly hellbent on making it work, and rarely does White fail in his pursuits. The UFC is not only trying to get Carano out of her five year retirement, but also just signed former boxer Holly Holm. Marc also alludes to the possibility that the UFC could go after Cristiane Justion (Cris Cyborg) as well. Cyborg is a former Strikeforce women’s featherweight champion, and the current Invicta FC World Featherweight champion (Invicta FC became a major player in women’s MMA in 2012).
There is a ton of talent in women’s MMA, and if Dana White can somehow manage to go out and gather the majority of that talent fully under contract into the UFC, then the future of women in MMA could be very bright. White certainly seems to be fully committed. In an interview with James Cooper of Adweek, White talked about Rousey and women’s role in the UFC:
"Thirteen years ago, I was trying to sell men fighting on TV and pay per view. Women just seemed so far away, but the sport has come so far so fast, and obviously Ronda Rousey changed everything for us. My first meeting with her was 15 minutes. As soon as I walked out of the room, I said, “She’s the one, and I’m doing this thing.” The thing that I’ve noticed is, women like to see women do well. So Ronda Rousey has become this female hero to little girls all over the world. She is one of a kind in combat sports. She is literally the biggest star or the second biggest star in the UFC right now. No woman in the history of combat sports headlining a show pulls in the gauge she pulls in, and nobody pulls in the pay-per-view numbers. And the media, sponsors, you name it—she’s an absolute home run and a superstar for us."
I think that ultimately, the UFC’s success will determine the future success and popularity of women fighters, but as I’ve indicated, I think it will also largely depend on fighters stepping up to give Rhonda Rousey a serious run for her money.
Not only is White working hard to bring in some of the well-known female fighters I’ve already mentioned to the UFC, but on December 11, 2013, the UFC successfully signed 11 female fighters to contracts to create the new Strawweight division for the UFC. They will take part in the 20th season of the Ultimate Fighter, UFC’s reality television program that showcases talented, up-and-coming fighters.
Live Feed
Bam Smack Pow
For my money, with Rousey’s dominance, this is a bold and intelligent move by Dana White. It could significantly help maintain at least the current level of popularity in MMA, particularly if Rousey continues to own the bantamweight division (the only current weight class in the UFC). This could lead to future expansions as well into other weight classes.
With the new strawweight division on the horizon (as our own Josh Sanchez reports, you can see the first Strawweight fight on UFC Fight Night 45: Cerrone vs. Miller), and talented and skilled fighters in the existing bantamweight division such as Ronda Rousey, Cat Zingano, Miesha Tate, Alexis Davis, Liz Carmouche, and others, as well as Dana White’s die-hard attempts to draw in even more talent, I think the future is bright for women in MMA.
It’s been a rocky road for women in MMA, and there will still be hurdles to overcome, but I personally enjoy watching the good ones fight. Some of them are every bit as talented, athletic, and skilled as the men, and if that trend continues, I’m excited for what the future holds for women in the sport.