Swinny
12-07-2012, 11:56 PM
UFC'S WOMEN'S MMA EXPERIMENT OFF TO GOOD START BUT NEEDS A REAL CHANCE TO THRIVE
BY BEN FOWLKES ON DEC 06, 2012 AT 8:50 PM ET
Looks like this is really, finally happening. By this, I mean women in the UFC. And by women, I mostly mean Ronda Rousey, at least for now.
As the UFC announced on Thursday, the Strikeforce 135-pound women's champ is now the very first UFC 135-pound women's champ. She'll defend that title against fellow former Strikeforce fighter Liz Carmouche in the main event of UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif., this February.
No matter how pessimistic you want to get about it (and I do want to get a little pessimistic, but more on that later), this is big. It's the first female fight in UFC history, it's occupying the headlining spot on the card, and, if that's not enough for you, it will also feature the first openly gay fighter in UFC history (hint: it's Carmouche, just in case the rainbow mouthpiece didn't clue you in). These are landmark events, and the UFC deserves an Internet high five for making it all happen.
So way to go, UFC. High five. Now tell me what you plan to do about women's MMA when it doesn't involve a beautiful blonde with an armbar addiction.
I don't want to sound ungrateful or overly negative here, because the Rousey-Carmouche fight is a step in the right direction for the UFC. It's a start, and it's something to build on. But at the same time, whenever I hear UFC president Dana White talk about women's MMA, I can't help but feel a little worried about how this experiment might go.
For instance, White recently told reporters that, when it comes to female fighting, he is "trying this out," which is not something we've heard him say about many men's divisions. On Thursday he told reporters that women's MMA in the UFC was something that could go on for years, or "it could last a year."
Anybody else see some cause for concern there? White didn't try out the featherweights or the bantamweights. He didn't try out flyweights. Instead he jumped in with both feet and immediately began promoting both title and non-title bouts. You know, like you do with a division.
So far women's MMA in the UFC isn't shaping up the same way. So far it's looking like it's going to be the Ronda Rousey show, which might be fine at first, but which has some obvious limitations.
It's not that I can't see why White is far more interested in Rousey than he is in the division as a whole. Between her looks, her physical abilities, and her penchant for incendiary statements that go straight from her lips to the headlines, she's a fight promoter's dream. But she's still just one person, and she can't carry the prospects for women's MMA all by herself. What if she gets injured? What if she shows up for her UFC debut and gets smashed by Carmouche, who is, in a lot of ways, the anti-Rousey? What if (and I think this is the least likely of the three scenarios) she gets bitten by the same acting bug that got Gina Carano, and simply loses interest in fighting for a living?
The way the UFC has positioned itself now, as an organization that is giving women's MMA a trial run, it's hard not to think that any one of those possibilities could doom this project. It's pretty clear that the UFC is expecting Rousey to win this first fight, which is why White is already talking about how he thinks Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos will be the next in line for a shot at Rousey. That, too, would be a huge fight, but what about everybody else?
What will really reveal the UFC's attitude toward female fighters is what it does about the division in between Rousey showings. Will it throw some other women's fights on the prelims? Will female fighters get a chance to build up to a title fight within the octagon, or will they be plucked one by one from Invicta when the time comes for another victim to jump into the volcano and satisfy the gods? Dare I even ask whether we'll ever see any other weight class besides the one Rousey happens to fight in?
I hope the UFC is truly serious about promoting female fighters – emphasis on the plural. The longtime women's MMA fighters I spoke to after this news broke all said they were encouraged, but still seemed wary. Some said they were hoping that Rousey would hold onto the title long enough to help women's MMA get a foothold in the UFC. Others were just hoping for the chance to fight, and soon.
"I'm cautiously optimistic that it leads to a division," wrote Strikeforce fighter and Invicta commentator Julie Kedzie.
Right now I guess "cautiously optimistic" is the best we can hope for. I just don't want to be sitting here a year from now, feeling dumb for having been naive enough to hope in the first place.
BY BEN FOWLKES ON DEC 06, 2012 AT 8:50 PM ET
Looks like this is really, finally happening. By this, I mean women in the UFC. And by women, I mostly mean Ronda Rousey, at least for now.
As the UFC announced on Thursday, the Strikeforce 135-pound women's champ is now the very first UFC 135-pound women's champ. She'll defend that title against fellow former Strikeforce fighter Liz Carmouche in the main event of UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif., this February.
No matter how pessimistic you want to get about it (and I do want to get a little pessimistic, but more on that later), this is big. It's the first female fight in UFC history, it's occupying the headlining spot on the card, and, if that's not enough for you, it will also feature the first openly gay fighter in UFC history (hint: it's Carmouche, just in case the rainbow mouthpiece didn't clue you in). These are landmark events, and the UFC deserves an Internet high five for making it all happen.
So way to go, UFC. High five. Now tell me what you plan to do about women's MMA when it doesn't involve a beautiful blonde with an armbar addiction.
I don't want to sound ungrateful or overly negative here, because the Rousey-Carmouche fight is a step in the right direction for the UFC. It's a start, and it's something to build on. But at the same time, whenever I hear UFC president Dana White talk about women's MMA, I can't help but feel a little worried about how this experiment might go.
For instance, White recently told reporters that, when it comes to female fighting, he is "trying this out," which is not something we've heard him say about many men's divisions. On Thursday he told reporters that women's MMA in the UFC was something that could go on for years, or "it could last a year."
Anybody else see some cause for concern there? White didn't try out the featherweights or the bantamweights. He didn't try out flyweights. Instead he jumped in with both feet and immediately began promoting both title and non-title bouts. You know, like you do with a division.
So far women's MMA in the UFC isn't shaping up the same way. So far it's looking like it's going to be the Ronda Rousey show, which might be fine at first, but which has some obvious limitations.
It's not that I can't see why White is far more interested in Rousey than he is in the division as a whole. Between her looks, her physical abilities, and her penchant for incendiary statements that go straight from her lips to the headlines, she's a fight promoter's dream. But she's still just one person, and she can't carry the prospects for women's MMA all by herself. What if she gets injured? What if she shows up for her UFC debut and gets smashed by Carmouche, who is, in a lot of ways, the anti-Rousey? What if (and I think this is the least likely of the three scenarios) she gets bitten by the same acting bug that got Gina Carano, and simply loses interest in fighting for a living?
The way the UFC has positioned itself now, as an organization that is giving women's MMA a trial run, it's hard not to think that any one of those possibilities could doom this project. It's pretty clear that the UFC is expecting Rousey to win this first fight, which is why White is already talking about how he thinks Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos will be the next in line for a shot at Rousey. That, too, would be a huge fight, but what about everybody else?
What will really reveal the UFC's attitude toward female fighters is what it does about the division in between Rousey showings. Will it throw some other women's fights on the prelims? Will female fighters get a chance to build up to a title fight within the octagon, or will they be plucked one by one from Invicta when the time comes for another victim to jump into the volcano and satisfy the gods? Dare I even ask whether we'll ever see any other weight class besides the one Rousey happens to fight in?
I hope the UFC is truly serious about promoting female fighters – emphasis on the plural. The longtime women's MMA fighters I spoke to after this news broke all said they were encouraged, but still seemed wary. Some said they were hoping that Rousey would hold onto the title long enough to help women's MMA get a foothold in the UFC. Others were just hoping for the chance to fight, and soon.
"I'm cautiously optimistic that it leads to a division," wrote Strikeforce fighter and Invicta commentator Julie Kedzie.
Right now I guess "cautiously optimistic" is the best we can hope for. I just don't want to be sitting here a year from now, feeling dumb for having been naive enough to hope in the first place.