Not long ago, UFC president Dana White was adamant that women would never fight in his organization. But he revealed on the most recent “The Fighter & the Kid” podcast that he is so pleased by the popularity of the first cadre of women that he plans to add a second weight division. He raised eyebrows, however, by stating he wants 115 lbs next.
So why would the UFC skip over flyweight in favor of strawweight? Here’s why:
It doesn’t debilitate the bantamweight division
Imagine how the potential loss of former flyweights like Jessica Eye would impact the UFC’s flagship female weight class. The UFC should be concerned that opening up flyweight would sap the rising strength of the bantamweight division, which has yet to establish a generally agreed-upon pecking order of recognizable fighters.
Strawweight may be more talent packed
Names like Jessica Aguilar, Joanne Calderwood and Carla Esparza may not be familiar to you yet, but that will likely change after the 115 pound division is introduced. One might assume that because the women’s bantamweight division was the first in the UFC, it must have the best talent. Remember, however, that the UFC built bantamweight primarily around the celebrity of Ronda Rousey, not the talent of the class as a whole.
Due to the higher number of women able to compete at 115 lbs (which is comparable to the men’s lightweight class), expect women’s strawweight to become one of the most hotly contested UFC divisions in the years to come.
Separating the UFC’s two women’s divisions by 20 lbs allows for a larger talent pool to find a new megastar
When the UFC adds the strawweight class, the prominent flyweights currently unsigned by the UFC will have the incentive to make the drop to 115 pounds. Likewise, the most talented atomweights will seize the opportunity to go up in weight if it means a chance to compete in the Octagon.
This will be a good for the UFC, which ought to be concerned about what to do when Ronda Rousey leaves fighting for a full-time job making movies and/or babies. Marc Raimondi, writing for FoxSports.com, makes a good point that “blonde bombshell” Felice Herrig may be one of the women to take up Rousey’s mantle.
Opening up strawweight in the UFC is a counterintuitive but shrewd move. What should puzzle fans and media is how the UFC plans to promote these strawweights when the dance card is full to bursting as is. In order to expand the women’s divisions while also meeting existing fighter demand for bouts, the UFC will need to either decimate its ranks or massively expand its offerings.
Will we see cards grow to 15 or 18 fights, with prelims starting at the crack of dawn? Will we see a UFC event once per week?
While those are future possibilities, the UFC has seemed most willing to thin the herd first. Veteran, boring and low-ranked fighters better take heed.
Strawweight women—all 115 pounds of them—are coming for their jobs.
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