(Above: UFC 157 poster via @rondarousey. / Below: UFC 157 tickets banner via UFC.com. Click both for larger versions.)
See? I told you guys this wasn’t just an elaborate prank. Here we have Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche front-and-center in the first official promo poster for UFC 157, while Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida lurk in the background, just a couple more innocent men subjugated by the gynocratic culture of the UFC.
From the moment this event was announced, fans and pundits have debated whether the UFC made the right choice in having its first women’s match headline a pay-per-view, especially when one of the competitors has no name value with casual fans. I thought Zach Arnold at FightOpinion had an interesting take on it yesterday:
When Gary Shaw was promoting Gina Carano as his women’s ace, was he in the women’s MMA business or the Gina Carano business?…Gina drew plenty of eyeballs against female fighters who had lower media profiles. She saw her run end against Cyborg, but it was a hell of a run. You can’t say that the experiment was a failure…
Much in a similar vein to Gary Shaw with Gina Carano, Dana White sees Ronda Rousey as his vehicle to reach the masses who only care about Entertainment Tonight, Extra, The Insider, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, and random Youtube video clips where Rousey can make remarks about sex & testosterone and know that a billion people are going to talk about her comments. Rousey is completely shameless in the way she attracts what political pundits call ‘low information voters’ and she’s proud of it…
(Above: UFC 157 poster via @rondarousey. / Below: UFC 157 tickets banner via UFC.com. Click both for larger versions.)
See? I told you guys this wasn’t just an elaborate prank. Here we have Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche front-and-center in the first official promo poster for UFC 157, while Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida lurk in the background, just a couple more innocent men subjugated by the gynocratic culture of the UFC.
From the moment this event was announced, fans and pundits have debated whether the UFC made the right choice in having its first women’s match headline a pay-per-view, especially when one of the competitors has no name value with casual fans. I thought Zach Arnold at FightOpinion had an interesting take on it yesterday:
When Gary Shaw was promoting Gina Carano as his women’s ace, was he in the women’s MMA business or the Gina Carano business?…Gina drew plenty of eyeballs against female fighters who had lower media profiles. She saw her run end against Cyborg, but it was a hell of a run. You can’t say that the experiment was a failure…
Much in a similar vein to Gary Shaw with Gina Carano, Dana White sees Ronda Rousey as his vehicle to reach the masses who only care about Entertainment Tonight, Extra, The Insider, Access Hollywood, Inside Edition, and random Youtube video clips where Rousey can make remarks about sex & testosterone and know that a billion people are going to talk about her comments. Rousey is completely shameless in the way she attracts what political pundits call ‘low information voters’ and she’s proud of it…
So, why is there more heat on Dana White for promoting Ronda Rousey the way Gary Shaw would promote Gina Carano? Rousey’s a significantly better fighter & athlete. Combine that with the media buzz that Zuffa’s consumer behaviorologists in Las Vegas are focusing on and you have a pretty fail-safe combination here.
In other words, the UFC isn’t aiming to please the hardcore fans on this one — they’re aiming for novelty, and the mainstream media coverage that will no doubt result from that novelty. So enjoy it, because it won’t be like this forever.
According to BestFightOdds, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey opened as a -1500 betting favorite against her UFC 157 challenger Liz Carmouche, who opened at +700. Since then, the odds have leveled out somewhat; SportBet currently has the line at a more reasonable -1110/+690, which means that you’d need to put up $1,110 in order to turn a $100 profit on Ronda if she wins, while betting $100 on Liz would…you know what, I’m not even going to finish that sentence. Please do not bet money on this fight.
The current odds make Rousey vs. Carmouche rank among the most lopsided UFC matchups of all time, which comes as no surprise — before the booking was announced, many UFC fans may not have even been aware of the existence of Liz Carmouche, who is an unknown quantity to everyone except hardcore fans of women’s MMA and Strikeforce. Plus, Carmouche fell short both times she faced champion-level competition, suffering a decision loss to Sarah Kaufman in July 2011 and a submission loss to Marloes Coenen four months prior, although Carmouche was winning that fight until she was stopped.
According to BestFightOdds, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey opened as a -1500 betting favorite against her UFC 157 challenger Liz Carmouche, who opened at +700. Since then, the odds have leveled out somewhat; SportBet currently has the line at a more reasonable -1110/+690, which means that you’d need to put up $1,110 in order to turn a $100 profit on Ronda if she wins, while betting $100 on Liz would…you know what, I’m not even going to finish that sentence. Please do not bet money on this fight.
The current odds make Rousey vs. Carmouche rank among the most lopsided UFC matchups of all time, which comes as no surprise — before the booking was announced, many UFC fans may not have even been aware of the existence of Liz Carmouche, who is an unknown quantity to everyone except hardcore fans of women’s MMA and Strikeforce. Plus, Carmouche fell short both times she faced champion-level competition, suffering a decision loss to Sarah Kaufman in July 2011 and a submission loss to Marloes Coenen four months prior, although Carmouche was winning that fight until she was stopped.
None of Rousey’s previous matches have turned out to be very competitive, and it’s hard to imagine that this one will be any different. (If Liz gets armbarred in the second round as opposed to the first round, she should immediately be ranked the #2 women’s bantamweight in the world.) Is that necessarily a bad thing? A string of highlight-reel finishes from a charismatic champion can go a long way in drawing casual fans to women’s MMA. Think of it this way: Mike Tyson became famous by rolling over outmatched palookas, not by clawing out victories in gritty 12-round wars — and converted hordes of young people to boxing fandom in the process.
Not that we’re calling Ronda Rousey the Mike Tyson of women’s MMA (at least not yet). But maybe a good squash match is just what the sport needs right now.
While it wasn’t the hoped-for matchup with Cris Cyborg, White promised that matchup with Rousey would come next as long as she emerged from UFC 157 victorious. “That was obviously the fight we wanted to make at 135 pounds,” White said. “We worked hard to make that fight. I believe that this fight will happen and I truly believe the next fight will be the Cyborg one.” [Ed. note: Not that Dana doesn’t have the utmost confidence in you, Liz.]
A five-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Carmouche’s career MMA record stands at 7-2, with both losses coming last year, in back-to-back Strikeforce matches against Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman. Carmouche rebounded impressively this year, scoring stoppage wins over Ashleigh Curry and Caitlin Young under the Invicta banner.
Though she’s been publicly angling for a matchup with Rousey in recent weeks, Liz Carmouche is one of the last people you’d expect to be headlining a UFC pay-per-view card in early 2013. But as is often the case with UFC title fights lately, the booking was motivated by a lack of options. Said White:
(Visual proof of this whole “lady UFC champion” thing, via @MikeChiappetta)
While it wasn’t the hoped-for matchup with Cris Cyborg, White promised that matchup with Rousey would come next as long as she emerged from UFC 157 victorious. ”That was obviously the fight we wanted to make at 135 pounds,” White said. “We worked hard to make that fight. I believe that this fight will happen and I truly believe the next fight will be the Cyborg one.” [Ed. note: Not that Dana doesn’t have the utmost confidence in you, Liz.]
A five-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Carmouche’s career MMA record stands at 7-2, with both losses coming last year, in back-to-back Strikeforce matches against Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman. Carmouche rebounded impressively this year, scoring stoppage wins over Ashleigh Curry and Caitlin Young under the Invicta banner.
Though she’s been publicly angling for a matchup with Rousey in recent weeks, Liz Carmouche is one of the last people you’d expect to be headlining a UFC pay-per-view card in early 2013. But as is often the case with UFC title fights lately, the booking was motivated by a lack of options. Said White:
“Let me put it to you this way,” he said. “You ask me these questions and I tell you truth. A lot of people don’t like the truth when I say it but that’s who wanted to fight her. People aren’t kicking the doors down at Zuffa to fight her.”
Rousey added: ”I can’t make these girls fight me when I want them to fight me. I got a lot of respect for Liz. She’s the only one that really stepped up and said she really wanted this fight right now. That speaks a lot towards her. When the other girls come around and actually want to come to the big show, they know where I’m at.”
Kudos to the UFC for being committed to its women’s MMA experiment — and not burying its inaugural women’s fight in the co-main event spot of a FUEL card — but it’s a risky move, especially when one of the fighters involved is a relative unknown to casual fans. All the UFC can do is hope that Rousey vs. Carmouche turns out to be a thrilling war that turns more fans onto women’s MMA — or at least ends in a violent stoppage that they can show on SportsCenter.
Worst case scenario? Carmouche wins in a slow five-rounder. Obviously, that would still be a pretty solid outcome for Liz, but if it goes down like that, you can expect the UFC to suddenly lose interest in promoting women — which, let’s face it, was only about one specific woman all along, and the potential superfight that will be a lot more profitable than this one.
Carmouche’s last two Strikeforce appearances in 2011 resulted in losses against Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman. But this year, she rebounded with back-to-back wins against Ashleigh Curry and Kaitlin Young under the Invicta banner. Carmouche is a great test for McMann, and the fight has the potential to create some heat around McMann with Strikeforce viewers — assuming that Showtime doesn’t bury the fight on the prelims like they did with Miesha Tate vs. Julie Kedzie, which, now that I think about it, they probably will. Damn it.
Still no word on the next opponent for Strikeforce bantamweight champ/franchise star Ronda Rousey, but it’s safe to say that if McMann gets past Carmouche in November, she’ll punch her ticket to a title shot.
Carmouche’s last two Strikeforce appearances in 2011 resulted in losses against Marloes Coenen and Sarah Kaufman. But this year, she rebounded with back-to-back wins against Ashleigh Curry and Kaitlin Young under the Invicta banner. Carmouche is a great test for McMann, and the fight has the potential to create some heat around McMann with Strikeforce viewers — assuming that Showtime doesn’t bury the fight on the prelims like they did with Miesha Tate vs. Julie Kedzie, which, now that I think about it, they probably will. Damn it.
Still no word on the next opponent for Strikeforce bantamweight champ/franchise star Ronda Rousey, but it’s safe to say that if McMann gets past Carmouche in November, she’ll punch her ticket to a title shot.
2004 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Shayna Baszler after three rounds at last night’s all-women Invicta FC 2 event. Baszler rocked McMann with a left hook late in the fight but McMann had evidently gotten far enough ahead on the judges’ scorecards to get the win. Check out the full fight video above.
Scores were 29-28 (twice) and 30-27 for McMann. “That was by far the toughest and most skilled fighter I have ever fought,” McMann said post-fight of Baszler.
With the win, McMann improves her MMA record to 6-0. Baszler dipped to 14-7.
2004 Olympic wrestling silver medalist Sara McMann won a hard-fought unanimous decision over Shayna Baszler after three rounds at last night’s all-woman Invicta FC 2 event. Baszler rocked McMann with a left hook late in the fight but McMann had evidently gotten far enough ahead on the judges’ scorecards to get the win. Check out the full fight video above.
Scores were 29-28 (twice) and 30-27 for McMann. “That was by far the toughest and most skilled fighter I have ever fought,” McMann said post-fight of Baszler.
With the win, McMann improves her MMA record to 6-0. Baszler dipped to 14-7.
Invicta FC 1 wasn’t the first promotion to feature an all-femalefight card, nor did they invent the MMA livestream, but last night they paired the two beautifully for a groundbreaking show that will undoubtedly do wonders for WMMA. The online broadcast is said to have peaked at 100k viewers, some four-times their initial projection.
Overall the show had a professional, polished appearance. The familiar voice of Mauro Renallo carried the commentary team with the sort of obvious, gender-based puns that we would never personally sink t…oh, right. The recently unemployed “King Mo” kept it 100 on the mic, but casual doesn’t always equal comfortable or competent, and Jon Anik can breath a little easier this morning. Alongside Lawal, Julie Kedzie called the fight from a fighter’s perspective, and with a little more experience she could transition well into that roll.
While one of Invicta’s stated goals is to develop clearly defined weight classes, the fighters will have to do their part when it’s time to step on the scales. With four fighters missing weight for the inaugural event, some of them badly, there’s still much work to be done.
As for the fights, it was an overall entertaining card. Videos and a recap are after the jump.
Invicta FC 1 wasn’t the first promotion to feature an all-femalefight card, nor did they invent the MMA livestream, but last night they paired the two beautifully for a groundbreaking show that will undoubtedly do wonders for WMMA. The online broadcast is said to have peaked at 100k viewers, some four-times their initial projection.
Overall the show had a professional, polished appearance. The familiar voice of Mauro Renallo carried the commentary team with the sort of obvious, gender-based puns that we would never personally sink t…oh, right. The recently unemployed “King Mo” kept it 100 on the mic, but casual doesn’t always equal comfortable or competent, and Jon Anik can breath a little easier this morning. Alongside Lawal, Julie Kedzie called the fight from a fighter’s perspective, and with a little more experience she could transition well into that roll.
While one of Invicta’s stated goals is to develop clearly defined weight classes, the fighters will have to do their part when it’s time to step on the scales. With four fighters missing weight for the inaugural event, some of them badly, there’s still much work to be done.
As for the fights, it was an overall entertaining card. Videos and a recap are after the jump.
Leslie Smith and Kaitlin Young threw down for three full rounds, taking home the evening’s $1500 ‘Fight of the Night’ bonuses . The two bantamweights left the ‘feeling out’ process to Rex up in the stands. They pulled the trigger from the opening bell, exchanging heavy strikes in a back and forth slugfest. The evening’s most exciting fight was also the most controversial; neither fighter got her hand raised as the bout ended in a Split Draw. Both were given their win bonuses.
2008 Olympic wrestling bronze medalist Randi Miller disappointed in her victorious pro-debut. Aside from the heavy, backyard ground and pound that earned her the win over Mollie Estes, she showed little to get excited over and exhibited none of the wrestling skills one would naturally expect given her background.
(Liz Carmouche vs Ashleigh Curry, via Budo-Zone.com)
It would take you longer to read a review of the Liz Carmouche-Ashleigh Curry bout than it would to watch it. Just check out the video to catch the ‘Girl-Rilla’ bulldoze Curry real quick like. Carmouche, along with Penne, scored a $1000 ‘Social Media’ bonus for her efforts to promote the event online.
Atomweights (105 lb’ers) Jessica Penne and Lisa Ellis put their matwork on display in the evening’s co-main event. The pair employed takedowns and reversals, and submissions and sweeps as they battled to gain control on the ground. Penne landed a pair of knees from the clinch to open up Ellis’ nose like a spigot and seize control in the third. From there she gained top position on the canvas and further pounded her bloody opponent, drawing the TKO.
In the evening’s main event, former Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Marloes Coenen earned her second victory over Romy Ruyssen, though the rematch would go the distance. Coenen injured her hand in the first round, but still maintained a decisive advantage throughout the bout. The Frenchwoman tried to take Coenen down in vain, losing a point in the first round for grabbing the cage, but even when she pulled guard she found no success on the ground. Coenen scored the win 30-26 on all three judge’s scorecards.
