Tag: women's MMA

Is Holly Holm As Valuable to the UFC as Her Manager Thinks She Is?


(Fresquez and Holm field questions after her win over Angela Hayes on Friday. / Photo via Getty)

By Mark Dorsey

Former world champion boxer Holly Holm is an MMA franchise. She’s a marquee star, a better face of the UFC women’s division than Ronda Rousey, and worth a six-figure contract — at least according to her manager, Lenny Fresquez, who has been making the media rounds lately trying to convince the public that his undefeated client is the only worthy challenger to Rousey’s belt.

Let’s get one thing straight: Calling Holly Holm a “franchise” is ludicrously premature. Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva are MMA franchises. Beyond that, the list gets very thin. In fact, the concept of franchise players is fading in every sport as the Lebron Jameses and Jacoby Ellsburys of the sports world show that their loyalty only extends to the highest free market bidder.

The argument could be made that UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is a franchise athlete. After all, Dana White has admitted that the UFC only created the women’s division because of her. But Holly Holm is not on the same level of recognizability as Rousey. Sure she was a big boxing draw in New Mexico, but being a regional draw does not translate to franchise-level success with a global brand like the UFC.

Chances are, not many outside of the hardcore MMA and boxing fanbase have even heard of Holly Holm. The Holly Holm brand might bring a few new eyeballs from the boxing world but she is certainly not selling a PPV on her own.

However, just because Holly Holm is not a “franchise” does not mean she wouldn’t make a great investment for the UFC’s fledgling women’s division. Holm is a fantastic athlete. Once considered by many as the best female boxer on the planet, she was twice named Ring Magazine’s female Fighter of the Year. Training under Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, she not only has the physical ability and attributes, she also has the right team around her to be a world champion in MMA.

It’s possible that Holm may one day be a UFC franchise athlete. She certainly has the potential to dominate a women’s division that is severely lacking in high-quality strikers. She could also develop into a legitimate MMA star. She’s personable, good looking and professional. However, she’s not there yet.


(Fresquez and Holm field questions after her win over Angela Hayes on Friday. / Photo via Getty)

By Mark Dorsey

Former world champion boxer Holly Holm is an MMA franchise. She’s a marquee star, a better face of the UFC women’s division than Ronda Rousey, and worth a six-figure contract — at least according to her manager, Lenny Fresquez, who has been making the media rounds lately trying to convince the public that his undefeated client is the only worthy challenger to Rousey’s belt.

Let’s get one thing straight: Calling Holly Holm a “franchise” is ludicrously premature. Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva are MMA franchises. Beyond that, the list gets very thin. In fact, the concept of franchise players is fading in every sport as the Lebron Jameses and Jacoby Ellsburys of the sports world show that their loyalty only extends to the highest free market bidder.

The argument could be made that UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is a franchise athlete. After all, Dana White has admitted that the UFC only created the women’s division because of her. But Holly Holm is not on the same level of recognizability as Rousey. Sure she was a big boxing draw in New Mexico, but being a regional draw does not translate to franchise-level success with a global brand like the UFC.

Chances are, not many outside of the hardcore MMA and boxing fanbase have even heard of Holly Holm. The Holly Holm brand might bring a few new eyeballs from the boxing world but she is certainly not selling a PPV on her own.

However, just because Holly Holm is not a “franchise” does not mean she wouldn’t make a great investment for the UFC’s fledgling women’s division. Holm is a fantastic athlete. Once considered by many as the best female boxer on the planet, she was twice named Ring Magazine’s female Fighter of the Year. Training under Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn, she not only has the physical ability and attributes, she also has the right team around her to be a world champion in MMA.

It’s possible that Holm may one day be a UFC franchise athlete. She certainly has the potential to dominate a women’s division that is severely lacking in high-quality strikers. She could also develop into a legitimate MMA star. She’s personable, good looking and professional. However, she’s not there yet.

Holm hasn’t fought anybody even near the top 10 in MMA and it’s yet to be seen what will happen once she gets taken down by a quality grappler. Her last fight was a forgettable unanimous decision win over 40-year old Angela Hayes, who has a losing record. Even during her successful boxing career, there were those in the boxing community who felt Holm was protected by not facing top competition, like Cecilia Braekhus, and mostly fighting in her hometown.

Though her early MMA career has intentionally followed the boxing model of record-padding en route to a title fight, Holm needs to fight high-quality competition in order to demand anything close to six-figures upon entry into the UFC. Fresquez claims that Holm makes more than 80% of UFC fighters. That may have been true in her boxing career — although even that seems doubtful — but she certainly didn’t make that much fighting for Bellator and Legacy FC.

The Holly Holm controversy will likely devolve into a debate about unfair UFC fighter pay in general. That debate has been going on for years and will continue to rage for years to come. However, this is about the worth of one particular fighter in the context of the current WMMA landscape, and Holm’s management needs to be careful not to price her out of a potentially lucrative long-term UFC career.

Zuffa has shown that they are willing to let free agents sign with other companies if the UFC feels the fighters are not worth what they could get on the free market. For every Hector Lombard who gets signed to an inflated UFC contract, there are the Ben Askrens of the world who the UFC decides aren’t worth it.

Dana White has called Holly Holm “the female Conor McGregor” because of the amount of MMA fans telling him to sign her. There’s no doubt the UFC wants Holm but they don’t exactly need her either. They have a long list of contenders waiting to challenge for Rousey’s belt with Miesha Tate, Cat Zingano, Alexis Davis, and Sara McMann waiting in the wings. Holm versus Rousey would certainly be a high-profile matchup. It would be a marketing dream — a pound-for-pound world champion boxer versus the Olympic judoka and undisputed MMA champion — if we ever get to see it happen. At this point it looks like a big if.

The MMA landscape is littered with managers who have screwed over their fighters by overvaluing their clients. So far, Lenny Fresquez has done an outstanding job promoting — and some would argue protecting — Holm’s career, both in boxing and MMA. However, his recent claim that Holm needs a six-figure contract in order to sign with the UFC is delusional. Holm has a bright future in MMA. She would be a great addition to the UFC’s roster and could pose a legitimate threat to Rousey’s belt. However, Fresquez needs to recognize that WMMA is still in its infancy and the market value is not the same as it is in boxing. He’s doing his job trying to get the most for his client but he needs to be careful not to play his client right out of the UFC picture altogether.

If Holm is worth it, she’ll establish herself as a top contender and get her six-figure contract in due time. However, that time is not now.

Dana White Announces That a Women’s (?) Strawweight Division (?!!) Is in the Works


(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.


(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…

–J. Jones

And Now She’s Retired: Megumi Fujii Loses Final Fight After Eye Injury From Repeated Pokes

Megumi Fujii, perhaps the greatest female mixed martial arts fighter of all time, lost her retirement fight Saturday night at Vale Tudo Japan 3rd against Jessica Aguilar in a second round stoppage. Fujii was twice poked in the eye by Aguilar in the first round and sustained a serious-looking injury because of them.

“Mega Megu” decided to fight on despite the injury but in the second round, Aguilar began to take control of the fight and hurt Fujii more. In between the second and third rounds, a ring side doctor inspected Fujii and decided to stop the fight. The fight between Fujii and Aguilar was a rematch of their 2012 Bellator bout which ended with a controversial decision win for Aguilar.

Fujii finishes her career with a record of 26-3, overall. After the fight, the promotion held a retirement ceremony for the pioneering fighter. Watch the fight and ceremony in the video above.

– Elias Cepeda

Megumi Fujii, perhaps the greatest female mixed martial arts fighter of all time, lost her retirement fight Saturday night at Vale Tudo Japan 3rd against Jessica Aguilar in a second round stoppage. Fujii was twice poked in the eye by Aguilar in the first round and sustained a serious-looking injury because of them.

“Mega Megu” decided to fight on despite the injury but in the second round, Aguilar began to take control of the fight and hurt Fujii more. In between the second and third rounds, a ring side doctor inspected Fujii and decided to stop the fight. The fight between Fujii and Aguilar was a rematch of their 2012 Bellator bout which ended with a controversial decision win for Aguilar.

Fujii finishes her career with a record of 26-3, overall. After the fight, the promotion held a retirement ceremony for the pioneering fighter. Watch the fight and ceremony in the video above.

– Elias Cepeda

TUF 18 Episode 1 Recap: Welcome to Co-Ed Sleepaway Camp Fight Club

By Elias Cepeda

The first episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 18 begins with Ronda Rousey finding out that she will be coaching against Meisha Tate instead of Cat Zingano. She isn’t very happy. In fact, she loses her shit, storms around the TUF gym after Meisha walks in and surprises her, looking for Dana White so he can explain.

When he does, Rousey looks relieved. For some reason, she thought that seeing Tate there meant that she herself was being kicked off as a coach. Not sure why she’d assume that, but it just reaffirms that Rousey’s mind is a dark, scary place built to use everything it encounters as anger-inducing motivation. She’s a terrifying, awesome chick.

The reality sets in — Ronda will coach against Mr. and Mrs. Tate on TUF and will rematch Meisha when it’s all over. Rousey seems cool with it, finally, talking of destiny and broken limbs. This season, of course, will feature both men and women bantamweights vying for a UFC contract.

Thirty-two fighters, sixteen of each gender, have been invited to Vegas and will fight their way into the TUF house. First up, is the obligatory former female model turned fighter Jessamyn Duke out of Kentucky winning by triangle choke. The Invicta vet is 5’11 and somehow makes 135 pounds. Nuts.

Next up, David Grant from Britain faces Dominick Cruz’s teammate Danny Martinez. Martinez is desperate for the take down from the get-go. While defending a takedown against the fence, Grant throws a downward elbow to Martinez’ spine and has a point deducted.

Martinez finally gets a takedown near the end of the round but Grant immediately works a triangle choke. Time runs out and Martinez is saved by the bell. The second round starts and Martinez looks gassed.

Grant knocks Martinez down with a punch, then transitions to his back and, as Martinez gets up, Grant knees him to what he believes is the shoulder but what referee Herb Dean calls as an illegal knee to the head. Another point is deducted.

By Elias Cepeda

The first episode of The Ultimate Fighter season 18 begins with Ronda Rousey finding out that she will be coaching against Meisha Tate instead of Cat Zingano. She isn’t very happy. In fact, she loses her shit, storms around the TUF gym after Meisha walks in and surprises her, looking for Dana White so he can explain.

When he does, Rousey looks relieved. For some reason, she thought that seeing Tate there meant that she herself was being kicked off as a coach. Not sure why she’d assume that, but it just reaffirms that Rousey’s mind is a dark, scary place built to use everything it encounters as anger-inducing motivation. She’s a terrifying, awesome chick.

The reality sets in — Ronda will coach against Mr. and Mrs. Tate on TUF and will rematch Meisha when it’s all over. Rousey seems cool with it, finally, talking of destiny and broken limbs. This season, of course, will feature both men and women bantamweights vying for a UFC contract.

Thirty-two fighters, sixteen of each gender, have been invited to Vegas and will fight their way into the TUF house. First up, is the obligatory former female model turned fighter Jessamyn Duke out of Kentucky winning by triangle choke. The Invicta vet is 5’11 and somehow makes 135 pounds. Nuts.

Next up, David Grant from Britain faces Dominick Cruz’s teammate Danny Martinez. Martinez is desperate for the take down from the get-go. While defending a takedown against the fence, Grant throws a downward elbow to Martinez’ spine and has a point deducted.

Martinez finally gets a takedown near the end of the round but Grant immediately works a triangle choke. Time runs out and Martinez is saved by the bell. The second round starts and Martinez looks gassed.

Grant knocks Martinez down with a punch, then transitions to his back and, as Martinez gets up, Grant knees him to what he believes is the shoulder but what referee Herb Dean calls as an illegal knee to the head. Another point is deducted.

Grant is clearly the better fighter but is on the verge of losing because of point deductions. Not so fast, the Brit says, and he transitions to a beautiful rolling arm bar the next time the two are on the ground and finishes Martinez to make it into the house.

Dana White sits in between Ronda and Meisha outside of the Octagon, watching the fights. He tries to make small talk and Meisha seems to engage him but Ronda is focused like a laser, pen in hand, making notes as she watches.

Next up, Revelina Berto, sister of Andre Berto, and Jessica Rakoczy get in a back and forth grappling match before Rakoczy gets the submission with a weird, inverted omoplata.

Michael Wootten and Emil Hartsner are up next and both immediately earn the Dana White Scorn Award (also known as the Jon Fitch Memorial Trophy) for being “boring,” and doing that wrestling stuff that is so stupid. Wootten wins a decision.

Peggy Morgan is an adjunct college professor and tall as all get out. She uses her huge size advantage to smash Bethany Marshall and pound her out for a first round TKO win. Meisha Tate calls Morgan the biggest 135-pounder she’s ever seen in her life. Ronda dubs her “Peggy Don’t Give a Fuck.” Now that’s a nickname.

Next up women’s MMA pioneer Roxanne Modafferi takes on Georges St. Pierre Tri Star gym teammate Valerie Letourneau. The TUF producers and fighters continue their “good television” but incredibly disruptive practice of having the families of competitors come visit them the night before their fight and also watch the fights in person. Letourneau has her young daughter watch her lose. Gotta be rough, but we’ve seen worse. Roxy gets the take down, takes the back and sinks in a rear naked choke early.

Tim Gorman finishes Lee Sandmeier quickly, getting a take down, obtaining mount and then the back and finishing with strikes for the TKO win. You don’t know it yet, but Gorman is a real asshole. Stay with us, you’ll see what we mean soon.

Next up, former Gina Carano opponent and party wrestling buddy Tonya Evinger takes on Raquel Pennington. With so many pioneers and veterans on the women’s side, it is interesting to hear Meisha dish on fighters that she knows or well or at least knows of like Roxanne and Tonya. In this case, Tate shares with Dana that Evinger always has “drama” with her girlfriends and that is the reason she has lost the fights she has.

Seems out of left field, but after Raquel submits Tonya in the second round, Evinger herself seems to be referring to such situations saying that she’s got too many distractions in her life right now. Get it together, Tonya. We’ve always liked what you bring to the table, and we’re rooting for ya.

Chris Beal gets the distinction of being the first TUF 18 member (hopefully the last) to wear a mask out to the cage. The kid is a cancer survivor. Not sure if that’s related to the mask or not. In any case, he scores an early nasty knockdown of Sirwan Kakai but the Swede hangs tough, comes back and fights hard before losing a decision to Beal.

Josh Hill wins a unanimous decision over Patrick Holohan on the strength of his wrestling.

Colleen Schneider takes on the highly regard Shayna Baszler next and Baszler wins with an armbar.

Louis Fisett is a spoiled, no good, lazy moocher. Well, at least that’s what his father says about him. He immediately takes down Chris Holdsworth, of Urijah Faber’s suddenly-unbeatable Team Alpha Male, but is in trouble from armbars and triangle chokes right off. He works out but then gets reversed and taps to an arm triangle choke.

Julianna Pena shows impressive ground striking in her bout against Gina Mazany and wins a decision.

Anthony Gutierrez wins a decision over Matt Munsey next.

Former #1 ranked fighter Tara LaRosa fights a fan in Sarah Moras. That admiration doesn’t stop Moras from winning a decision off the strength of take downs and multiple submission attempts.

We’d heard lots about Cody Bollinger recently and the 22-year-old does indeed look tough in stopping Rafael De Freitas in the second round. Cody got a take down in the first but spent most of the first round working out of deep submission attempts from De Freitas. In the second round, however, Cody is the fresher fighter and begins to tee off on the feet with strikes until he drops and finishes De Freitas.

That’s all the fights and now it is time for the coin toss to see which coach will get to begin picking their team first. Ronda wins the coin toss and has the choice of picking first or instead deciding on the first fight. She chooses to pick the first fight and cedes the first fighter pick to Meisha.

Tate chooses Julianna Pena, whom she has trained with in the past. Ronda chooses Baszler. For the full team list, go here.

Oh yeah, here’s when we learn that Tim Gorman is a dork. The Iowa fighter gets chosen last by Tate, which probably kinda stings. Oh well, the other fighters just deal with it. Not Timmy, though.

“I got picked by Meisha Tate,” he tells the confession camera later. “Is that her name? I don’t even know what her name is so I don’t care that she picked me last because I don’t even know who she is.”

Well, the rest of the fight world knows who the soon to be two-time world title challenger is, Tim. She’s fought in the UFC, you haven’t. She’s headlined a pay per view. You haven’t. She’s a professional fighter who does this for a living. You hope to soon be able to do that one day. Any other questions?

Fight pick time is up and Ronda goes in headfirst. She pits both teams’ first picks against one another. Julianna Pena from Team Tate will take on Shayna Baszler from Team Rousey.

That’s it for this week, kids. Can’t wait to see how these guys and dolls coexist in the house together and who will come out on top in what looks to be a great first fight.

Interview: New UFC Contender Jessica Eye Steps Up to the Big Leagues


(Photo via Keith Mills/Sherdog)

By Elias Cepeda

In case you hadn’t noticed, Jessica Eye has been a Bellator fighter for the past couple years. The flyweight/bantamweight had been signed to the organization since 2011 but, like other women on the roster, she had trouble getting fights with regularity.

Between Bellator appearances, Eye stayed busy by taking fights for the Ohio-based NAAFS league. But Eye knew that her time in Bellator was drawing to a close even before the promotion recently informed her that they were about to release her and all of their roster’s female fighters.

“I’m a smart woman so I knew something was up,” she chuckles.

“It was getting to the point where, if they didn’t get me my last fight in June, they would have soon been in breach of contract.”

Eye nonetheless managed to take on and beat marquee names such as Zoila Frausta Gurgel and Carina Damm (who botched a drug test moments before their fight), compiling a 10-1 record and seven-fight win streak since her pro debut in June 2010. At worst, Eye’s release from Bellator was bittersweet.

The MMA world was not at all surprised when the UFC quickly signed her to their bantamweight division and booked her against Sarah Kaufman, October 19th at UFC 166. The Cleveland fighter, however, never took the signing for granted.

“I’m 27 years old and that’s old enough to have learned that you shouldn’t assume anything,” Eye explains. “But I did have confidence that I had done enough in MMA that people had learned about me and that I would get picked up by the UFC.”


(Photo via Keith Mills/Sherdog)

By Elias Cepeda

In case you hadn’t noticed, Jessica Eye has been a Bellator fighter for the past couple years. The flyweight/bantamweight had been signed to the organization since 2011 but, like other women on the roster, she had trouble getting fights with regularity.

Between Bellator appearances, Eye stayed busy by taking fights for the Ohio-based NAAFS league. But Eye knew that her time in Bellator was drawing to a close even before the promotion recently informed her that they were about to release her and all of their roster’s female fighters.

“I’m a smart woman so I knew something was up,” she chuckles.

“It was getting to the point where, if they didn’t get me my last fight in June, they would have soon been in breach of contract.”

Eye nonetheless managed to take on and beat marquee names such as Zoila Frausta Gurgel and Carina Damm (who botched a drug test moments before their fight), compiling a 10-1 record and seven-fight win streak since her pro debut in June 2010. At worst, Eye’s release from Bellator was bittersweet.

The MMA world was not at all surprised when the UFC quickly signed her to their bantamweight division and booked her against Sarah Kaufman, October 19th at UFC 166. The Cleveland fighter, however, never took the signing for granted.

“I’m 27 years old and that’s old enough to have learned that you shouldn’t assume anything,” Eye explains. “But I did have confidence that I had done enough in MMA that people had learned about me and that I would get picked up by the UFC.”

When she did, the Strong Style Fight Team member recognized what a monumental accomplishment joining the UFC was, especially considering that women have only been in the organization for six months. “It feels great,” she says.

“That’s why I signed my contract in the [Cleveland] Browns stadium. I wanted to look up at all those seats and think about how far MMA has come and how far it could still go. I’m ready for this.”

“This,” of course, includes all the attention women fighters are finally getting because of their inclusion in the UFC, but Eye understands that she didn’t sign up for a parade at UFC 166 – she’ll have to fight another highly trained lethal weapon. “I would be an idiot if I didn’t think that Sarah Kaufman is a very hard fight,” Eye says.

“She’s a former champion, a veteran and has fought a lot of great other fighters.”

Eye is, of course, confident that she will be able to best Kaufman and earn her first UFC win. That supreme confidence extends to fighting bigger women in general.

Because the UFC currently only has one women’s weight division, fighters like Eye — who has competed several times at flyweight in the past — have to necessarily choose the higher division and larger opponents in order to compete in the organization. “Evil Eye” is undaunted.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that there were about five fights where I fought at 131 pounds or 132 pounds, and it was getting harder to make that weight or 125 as I get older. With 135, I can put on more muscle and feel strong and not have to worry about cutting weight,” she insists.

Practical considerations aside, however, one factor reigns supreme in Eye’s mind. “I’m not scared of anything,” she says. “I’m not scared of anyone. I don’t care. I’ll fight anybody.”

Women in the UFC: Looking Back at the First Six Months, And What It Means for the Future


(Is the women’s bantamweight division still reliant on the star power of its champion? / Photo via Getty)

By Adam Martin

For years, UFC president Dana White was firmly against bringing women into the Octagon to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In 2011, just two years ago, White told TMZ that women would “never” fight for his promotion. And yet now, in 2013, there are 15 women signed to a Zuffa contract and the UFC women’s bantamweight division is quickly becoming one of the promotion’s most crowd-pleasing weight classes.

So what changed?

The answer is simple: Ronda Rousey emerged as a superstar, and it’s Rousey that has singlehandedly brought women’s MMA into the mainstream — although White must be praised for giving her and other female fighters the platform to perform.

Now I really hate admitting this is the case, because I have been a fan of women’s fights ever since the HOOKnSHOOT days and I want to believe it was all of the women in sum putting on great fights that changed White’s mind, but it’s not a coincidence that White’s softened stance on allowing females to compete in the UFC coincided with Rousey’s unbeaten run to the top of the sport.

White, who is one of the smartest promoters in all of combat sports, was quick to realize Rousey could be a draw based on her good looks and vicious fighting style, and therefore make his company a lot of money, and the decision was made to bring her along with some other notable 135-pound females into the UFC earlier this year as a test drive of sorts.

And so far, the ride has been nothing but smooth.

UFC 157, which took place in February, featured not only the first women’s fight in UFC history but it was also the first UFC event to be headlined by two female fighters (Rousey and Liz Carmouche), and yet it did 450,000 PPV buys and a $1.35-million U.S. gate despite having a poor undercard. To the UFC, those numbers were a huge success and a slew of ladies were quickly signed by White and Co., who realized the fans loved Rousey vs. Carmouche and that they’d probably enjoy watching even more women fight.


(Is the women’s bantamweight division still reliant on the star power of its champion? / Photo via Getty)

By Adam Martin

For years, UFC president Dana White was firmly against bringing women into the Octagon to fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

In 2011, just two years ago, White told TMZ that women would “never” fight for his promotion. And yet now, in 2013, there are 15 women signed to a Zuffa contract and the UFC women’s bantamweight division is quickly becoming one of the promotion’s most crowd-pleasing weight classes.

So what changed?

The answer is simple: Ronda Rousey emerged as a superstar, and it’s Rousey that has singlehandedly brought women’s MMA into the mainstream — although White must be praised for giving her and other female fighters the platform to perform.

Now I really hate admitting this is the case, because I have been a fan of women’s fights ever since the HOOKnSHOOT days and I want to believe it was all of the women in sum putting on great fights that changed White’s mind, but it’s not a coincidence that White’s softened stance on allowing females to compete in the UFC coincided with Rousey’s unbeaten run to the top of the sport.

White, who is one of the smartest promoters in all of combat sports, was quick to realize Rousey could be a draw based on her good looks and vicious fighting style, and therefore make his company a lot of money, and the decision was made to bring her along with some other notable 135-pound females into the UFC earlier this year as a test drive of sorts.

And so far, the ride has been nothing but smooth.

UFC 157, which took place in February, featured not only the first women’s fight in UFC history but it was also the first UFC event to be headlined by two female fighters (Rousey and Liz Carmouche), and yet it did 450,000 PPV buys and a $1.35-million U.S. gate despite having a poor undercard. To the UFC, those numbers were a huge success and a slew of ladies were quickly signed by White and Co., who realized the fans loved Rousey vs. Carmouche and that they’d probably enjoy watching even more women fight.

And they have. The second women’s fight in the UFC was between Cat Zingano and Miesha Tate and it won “Fight of the Night” at the TUF 17 Finale. Then Sara McMann stopped Sheila Gaff at UFC 159, much to the crowd’s delight. And it continued on with exciting fights between Alexis Davis and Rosi Sexton, Gaff and Amanda Nunes, and Carmouche and Jessica Andrade.

In fact, the only bad women’s fight so far in the UFC was Julie Kedzie vs. Germaine de Randamie, meaning that of the seven female fights promoted so far by the UFC, the fans went home happy six times. That’s a good ratio – very good, actually – and it’s why the fans can expect the UFC to sign more females to its 135-pound roster in the near future (former Bellator standout Jessica Eye is the latest to be inked), and possibly even introduce additional female weight classes as soon as next year.

It’s clear that with TUF 18 featuring women in addition to men, the UFC wants to push its women’s division even harder through the end of the year. The new season, which stars arch-rivals Rousey and Tate as the coaches, is almost guaranteed to be a ratings hit when it premieres this Wednesday, bringing in even more new fans who are drawn in by women being in the spotlight.

That’s why I expect the UFC at some point to make a push to absorb Invicta Fighting Championships, the all-female promotion run by Shannon Knapp that has quickly become known for its extremely exciting fights between the best women fighters in the world at 105, 115, 125, 135, and 145 pounds.

Although the UFC has an informal talent-sharing agreement with Invicta at the moment which has thus far worked out nicely for both parties, the UFC will likely eventually see them as a competitor and buy them out like they did with PRIDE, the WEC, Strikeforce, and so many others. There’s no doubt in my mind the UFC is going to introduce more women’s divisions soon and they’re going to need a roster of non-bantamweight female fighters, which Invicta clearly has.

If I had to guess, the next female division that will be added is the 125-pound weight class, as many of the UFC’s female bantamweights (Eye, Sexton, and Gaff before she was cut) were actually flyweights who moved up for the opportunity to fight in the big show, just like male featherweights used to move up to lightweight to fight in the UFC before that weight class was added in 2010.

If I had my choice, though, the UFC would introduce the women’s 145-pound weight class, as the #1-ranked fighter in that division, Cris Cyborg, is one of the most dominant pound-for-pound fighters in the world regardless of gender, and she deserves the chance to show off her wares to a bigger audience than Invicta is giving her. Even though Cyborg tested positive for PEDs in 2011, it seems as though the fans have forgotten about it pretty quickly, and that’s probably because they want to see a super-fight between her and Rousey — a fight that is sure to be a pay-per-view blockbuster if and when it goes down.

Personally I want to see Rousey fight the other top contenders at 135 before she moves back up to 145 and fights Cyborg, but I know a Rousey vs. Cyborg fight is big and it could make the UFC a lot of money if they’re ever able to put it together.

For now, though, I think the UFC is happy with Rousey fighting at 135 and that’s why she has been booked in the co-main event slot at UFC 168 against Tate, which is the UFC’s year-end pay-per-view show, and which features the rematch between Anderson Silva and Chris Weidman in the main event. If Rousey can help the PPV exceed 1,000,000 buys — Silva vs. Weidman at UFC 162 did only a tad more than half a million, and their rematch is expected to draw somewhere north of that — that will prove Rousey’s drawing power and importance to the growth of women’s MMA better than any other statistic.

It took women a long time to find their way into the Octagon, but if the first six months of competition has shown anything, it’s that there is definitely an appetite from the fans for female fights, and that’s why I expect the women to not only stick around for the present, but to be one of the driving forces behind the UFC’s expansion in the years to come, in everything from television broadcasts to international markets. Ronda Rousey is very much responsible for much of that, even if there are many critics out there who don’t always give her the credit she deserves.