Women’s bouts are becoming increasingly popular in MMA circles and it’s a wonder why they haven’t been featured more predominately in the UFC. Fergus Ryan tells us why they should.
By Fergus Ryan
At the beginning of 2011 our Analysing Alistair Overeem article forecast that the UFC would come calling for ‘The Reem’ at some point during 2011. While he didn’t make his debut till the 30th of December, we’re still chalking that one down in the win column. For 2012 our feelings on the break-out MMA story of the year is going to be the emergence of Women’s MMA (WMMA) onto the big stage.
Though Dana White is still against ladies fighting in the UFC, it’s not because of lack of talent, moreover lack of depth in the divisions. If you look at the activity Strikeforce women champions, you’d tend to agree with White. Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos defended her featherweight belt only 3 times since winning it two and half years ago. To compound matters further, Santos tested positive for banned substances after her last fight and has been stripped of her title. White commented that he feels Santos was ‘the division’ and due to her suspension and lack of competition he expects the weight class may fold.
However, that is only one division. The tide is turning and the 125lbs and 135lbs ranks have been growing steadily. The increased in popularity of MMA has also infected the fairer sex. White and the UFC may not be believers just yet, but for some years now the best of the rest promotions have been featuring women’s MMA bouts. Strikeforce is probably the most visible but Bellator and Stand-Out European promotion Cage Warriors Fighting Championship have been strong supporters of the WMMA. With divisional depth improving there are now enough big-name women fighters to warrant a place in the biggest promotion.
Here are three reasons we feel WMMA will make the UFC in 2012:
Media Savvy
In taking the sport to the mainstream, Zuffa have embraced the cutting edge media trends through the years. Embracing reality TV in 2005, The Ultimate Fighter series was the catalyst for expansion. More recently social media outlets, particularly Twitter, have become a significant out-of-ring focus for Zuffa fighters. In between this Chuck Liddell skipped across US TV screens on Dancing with the Stars and Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson stared in the A-Team movie as BA Baracus, both with UFC blessings.
In late January Steven Soderbergh’s Haywire, starring Gina Carano (once our Woman of the Day), will hit cinema screens. Anyone who inquires about the leading lady will find out she was the original poster girl for WMMA. Carano has a muay Thai background and fought Rosi Sexton in the first ever sanctioned female MMA bout in 2006. She became the face of WMMA and was promoted heavily in her bouts for Strikeforce and the now defunct Elite XC. After losing for the first time in her career in 2009, Carano took time off from fighting to shoot Haywire – in Ireland for a lot of the time, as it transpired.
Carano has hinted in recent interviews she would like to return to fighting and would especially like to do it in the UFC’s octagon. If Haywire generates enough excitement about Carano and consequently WMMA it could signal dollar signs for the UFC. White and Zuffa have a track record in riding popularity waves all the way to the bank.
Rivalry
One of the biggest things to happen in WMMA in 2011 was the emergence of ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey. Having been the youngest person to qualify for judo in the Olympics in 2004, Rousey backed this up by taking a bronze medal in the 2008 Beijing games. Olympic level judokas are clearly not 9 to 5 desk job material. So, in 2010 Rousey chose MMA over a job with the coastguard as her career path. After 3 wins as an amateur she followed on with 4 wins as a professional. What’s most remarkable about the 7-0 ledger is that all her wins came by armbar submission and the total ring-time clocked is just over 4 minutes, or less than one traditional MMA round. To put that in perspective, UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz has spent 125 minutes in the Octagon in his last 6 fights.
After Rousey’s 2nd fight for Strikeforce she began calling out Miesha Tate, current Strikeforce bantamweight champion, even though Rousey was fighting at 145lbs at the time. Tate feels Rousey is trading on her looks and hasn’t done enough to warrant a title shot. Rousey has countered with claims that her years of judo training, Olympic success and impressive MMA record qualified her as a contender. She is also quick to point out that Zuffa is a business that puts on fights fans want to see. Quoting the number of Twitter followers and YouTube views Rousey reckons her and Tate are WMMA’s the most popular fighters and therefore the logical fight to make even though Sarah Kaufman may be more deserving of a title shot.
The bout has only recently been set for the 3rd of March. If this fight proves popular, Zuffa could have a number of marketable options for WMMA in the UFC. If Tate retains her title and the fight is close, a rematch could be scheduled for 2nd half of 2012. If Rousey wins, Canadian Sarah Kaufman, should be next. Or a Tate/Kaufman/Rousey title eliminator is also an option depending who holds the belt. These options may not headline a UFC PPV but with UFC on Fox, UFC on Fuel, Fight Nights and TUF Finales all on cable TV there a plenty of avenues for a WMMA without it being lost in a PPV undercard.
Before you watch the video below, be warned: it ends quickly, but only because of a dislocation.
Global Trends
WMMA is getting increasingly popular. If you take the biggest promotions outside of the UFC, all of them will have WMMA fights front and centre in their 2012 plans. Strikeforce, as we’ve mentioned, is enjoying the Rousey-Tate-Kaufman verbal sparring and will showcase fights between the three of them in 2012. Bellator is rumoured to be having a flyweight (125lbs, possibly the deepest division in WMMA) tournament during its 6th Season. Whether the tournament happens or not, they have contracts with most of the top female fighters in the flyweight division, guaranteeing them big name fights.
Closer to home, Cage Warriors Fighting Championships have announced a 4-woman tournament to crown their 125lbs champion. Already included in the tournament are former title holder Rosi Sexton, rising German star Sheila Gaff and our own Dublin native Aisling Daly. Indeed Daly could be in for an active 2012. In addition to the Cage Warriors tournament, she’ll be expected to defend her NAAFS title in Ohio at some point this year. In her post fight interview she also asked for a spot in the Bellator 125lb tournament. Having already competed in Bellator’s 115lb tournament in 2010 its not a stretch to think Daly will be invited back.
While all these WMMA events are great in themselves, more importantly and a fact that won’t be lost on Zuffa is, all of them will be shown on cable TV. Strikeforce recently extended their Showtime deal till 2014. Bellator have a current deal with MTV2 and will move to Spike TV in 2013 following the UFC’s departure. For Irish viewers, Cage Warriors Fighting Championship events have been shown on Setanta Sports for some time. Zuffa will probably be watching these ratings just as closely as the individual promotions.
Dana White’s track record in doing a 180 degree turns on pressing matters is second only to his success in promoting MMA. Remember he was originally a non-believer in the TUF reality show, said he wouldn’t do a cross-over fight with James Toney, didn’t want Kimbo Slice in the UFC, cut Miguel Torres for inappropriate tweeting and tried to sign Fedor Emelianenko because he was the greatest heavyweight on the planet. All of which he did an about turn on at a later point and was humble enough to admit he needed to change his mind.
If WMMA continues gaining in popularity and depth of fighters in its divisions it will represent another time Zuffa, White and the UFC changed their minds for the better.
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