SEATTLE — Less than an hour after Ronda Rousey was introduced as the inaugural UFC women’s bantamweight champion, the discussion had already turned toward ways to bolster the new division.
Fielding question from a small collection of reporters on Thursday afternoon, UFC President Dana White was asked if he would be open to an all-female version of The Ultimate Fighter, with Rousey as one of the head coaches.
“Yeah, obviously,” White replied. “Listen, she’s a world champion. What do you see on TUF? You see world champions as head coaches. Listen, I’m in man. I’m sold.
“The reason we have women’s MMA now is because of her.”
Rousey, the undefeated former Strikeforce champion, is already scheduled to make the first defense of her belt against Liz Carmouche in the main event of UFC 157. However, the 25-year-old queen of armbars couldn’t help but show excitement when presented with the idea of coaching a women’s TUF.
“I think it would be very, very cool,” admitted Rousey.
“I don’t know if it would be more fun coaching the men or the women. I think it’d be really great for people to see a women coaching men. But I think it’d also be really great to have a bunch of women fighters in the house.”