(Strawweights: Willing to go the extra mile on weigh-in night, and that’s really all that matters. Photo via Bellator.)
Hold onto your butts, Potato Nation, because Dana White just dropped a bomb that will make your insides explode faster than the Denny’s Hobbit menu.
During a recent interview on FOX Sports.com’s “The Fighter & The Kid” podcast, The Baldfather announced that the UFC is currently “working on” putting together a women’s strawweight division, thanks in no small part to the emphatic success of The Ultimate Fighter 18:
“I’ll give you guys something nobody knows yet. We’re actually working on bringing in another division for the women, which I said would never happen for a long time,” White told hosts Brendan Schaub and Bryan Callen. “125 pounds or 145 pounds?” Schaub asked. “Neither . . . 115 pounds,” White replied.
“I never in a million years thought that it would take off the way that it has.”
When asked whether or not the significant downturn TUF ratings have taken over the past few weeks have weighed into his decision, White allegedly told Schaub to “go f*ck himself” before storming out of the room yelling “LALALALALA CAN’T HEAR YOU” with his fingers in his ears. Allegedly.
In all seriousness, this is undoubtedly a great move on the UFC’s part — women have consistently outperformed their male counterparts in terms of viewership this season (save for the recent hiccup that we shall never discuss again) — and have yet to put on a truly boring fight in the octagon thus far. One has to wonder, however, what led the UFC to land on arguably the least stacked division in the already shallow WMMA landscape next. I mean, it’s not like the strawweights have an incredibly talented, charismatic, blonde, Rousey-esque poster girl who knows how to market her sexuality or anything…
