The sport of Mixed Martial Arts has been exploding all over the world for the last decade. However, as with other professional sports, the women’s division has not gained as much momentum.
Gina Carano was the first real big name of the sport, and it was perceived that she would be instrumental in launching WMMA into the spotlight. She was well on her way to doing so, until she lost to Cyborg Santos and subsequently fell off the fighting map to pursue an acting career.
Santos kept the momentum going from that win over Carano by winning fights in dominant fashion and earning the Strikeforce Women’s Featherweight Championship. She was creating buzz and was even starting to be considered as perhaps being included in the universal pound-for-pound rankings. However, a failed drug test after her most recent fight ended that talk and cast a shadow on the viability of WMMA.
Now, for the first time, Dana White is consistently promoting the upcoming Strikeforce title fight between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate. The fight will be held on Saturday, March 3rd at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
Fans will have no problem getting used to seeing the face of “Rowdy.” It’s a good thing too, because she will be the face of WMMA for quite some time.