The Roar
The Roar

Advertisement

The UFC's girls kick arse too

Roar Rookie
23rd July, 2014
0

UFC’s global expansion and worldwide fame could be partially attributed to their new women’s bantamweight division.

While watching two ripped guys punch each other and lock in painful submissions would entertain most, it wasn’t until Dana White introduced the women’s division that I truly fell in love with the sport of MMA.

Like, put-my-laptop-on-the-bathroom-vanity-while-I-watch-it-in-the-shower love.

There’s just something different about watching women don the gloves and duke it out in the octagon like they’re fighting for their life. Women have been pushing to have an equal treatment in contact sports since contact sports were invented and this women’s bantamweight division has done just that.

With the new UFC women’s flyweight division being introduced recently, women in MMA are growing and growing.

Young girls now have female fighters to look up to, and icons like Ronda Rousey are now inspiring women all over the globe to go all in and give MMA a go.

Plus, who doesn’t want to see a good girlfight? And I’m not talking the type where girls in short skirts and heels roll around clawing at each other’s hair; the women in MMA are more than happy to beat the absolute life out of each other, and then follow that up with a friendly hug or handshake to show sportswomanship.

Unless you’re Rousey and Miesha Tate, in which case, no hug or handshake will be shared.

Advertisement

If watching fit women beating the tar out of each other isn’t enough, maybe the fame attached to the name Ronda Rousey will catch your attention. Not only is she the first UFC women’s bantamweight champion ever – and she’s also undefeated in pro MMA bouts – but her celebrity has grown so much that she is the only female fighter in the Expendables 3 movie.

Ronda Rousey + badass MMA women’s champion + only female force in badass action movie also starring Sly Stallone and Dolph Lundgren = ratings.

People will see Rousey in Expendables 3 or hear her name pop up in the media as Dana White has described her as “the greatest athlete I’ve ever worked with on every level”. Next thing you know, you have fully fledged UFC fan, whose obsession started just by Googling Ronda Rousey.

Women in UFC also have their own little sparkle that makes them special. There are currently eight male weight divisions in the UFC and now, with the introduction of women’s flyweight, there are only two female weight divisions.

In a sense, it makes them a rare gem: men’s fights come in plenty on fight cards, but a women’s bout is rare and thus it sticks out more. In a card of ten fights, with one women’s fight, it’ll definitely be more spoken about than the others.

I am thrilled to see the women’s flyweight division and hope it brings more opportunities for other women to get into MMA, aspiring to join UFC and show that girls can – and will – kick arse too.

close