Women’s MMA – Who’s Your Daddy?

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Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world ~ Archimedes

MMA fans everywhere are digesting the news that Zuffa, parent company of  the UFC, bought Strikeforce, the UFC’s biggest competitor.

Bloggers and sports editors are tweeting links and sharing blog posts on facebook speculating about what they think will happen once the dust settles and contracts start expiring.

I found out about it because I noticed Zuffa was trending on twitter. That was unusual. UFC trending would not have drawn my attention.

My biggest question is what will happen to the embryonic women’s division in Strikeforce.

Dana White, UFC President, repeats the same line of reasoning whenever he is asked about women fighting in the UFC. “Not enough depth” to field a division.

I won’t argue with his position. He’s better placed than I am to know the statistics.

But not enough depth is not the same as “not enough interest”.

Strikeforce has already demonstrated that MMA fans enjoy watching high-level female fighters pit their skills against each other.

Women fighters like Cyborg and Carano and Marloes and Meisha draw our attention. We expect to see a good, technical scrap – and that’s what we get, every time.

Now that the UFC and Strikeforce are under the same Zuffa umbrella – and with Dana White, UFC President unlikely to relinquish the throne to Scott Coker, my question to the female fighters is: “Who’s your daddy?”

“Big Daddy” Dana

Imagine the opportunity here. Dana White and his team are already mixing the recently acquired WEC fighters in with the current roster of UFC fighters. The Strikeforce fighter stable offers a mixed group of male and female fighters wondering how they’re going to blend into the UFC’s expanding MMA family.

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Will Dana White treat Cyborg like a red-headed step-child?

I don’t think so.

What I’m thinking is that Dana and his advisers will eventually recognize the need to create a structure that supports women training in mixed martial arts. The precedent has already been set.

I first became interested in mixed martial arts after watching one of the later seasons of The Ultimate Fighter. I checked netflix and instantly added the earlier seasons to my DVD queue. I was hooked.

The show helped me to understand the fighters as people and to see how much work and heart they put into their training. I didn’t understand most of the fighting techniques beyond punching, kicking and wrestling. Over time, I learned to appreciate ground fighting as much as striking.

If that could happen to me (a female fight fan), in the face of no agreement from any of my friends – most of whom expressed shock and disdain whenever I mentioned “cage-fighting”, then I believe that a similar show would have the same effect on current MMA fans.

Imagine the market expansion if non-MMA fans started liking a reality show that featured female mixed martial artists. I’m thinking that a healthy percentage of the Showtime audience would tune into a show about buff MMA women fighters.

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The Ultimate Female Fighter

I like the sound of that. Is that a good name for the show? What would you call it?

- The Ultimate Fighterette

- Ms Ultimate Fighter

- The Ultimate Fem-Fighter

- The Ultimate “She Kicks Ass” Fighter

Well, I’m getting carried away with thinking up names. Their marketing people could help them sort out what to call it.

My belief is that this kind of exposure would encourage young women to begin martial arts training. We need a huge influx of women willing to fill the mma fighter pipeline. The best ones will stick to their training plans. We need a place for them to aspire to reach.  $100,000 cash prizes are strong incentives to push towards a goal.

I respect Dana White. I look up to him as the Father of MMA promotion. Because of his dedication, hard work and willingness to travel constantly, we have an exciting sport to discuss, fighters we love and the fastest growing sport in America to watch on TV.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Dana and his management teams will do the right thing to promote women having equal access. The need to manage diversity and make room at the table for everyone has caught up to the UFC.

With this latest acquisition, the organization has expanded beyond the point of Dana’s personal view on women fighting in the octagon.

Hey, Big Daddy! Gotta be nice to all your children. Even the ones who make you uncomfortable.

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This post was originally published on KennyFlorian.com and is reprinted here with permission.

Cheryl Ragsdale practices martial arts for fun and physical fitness at Florian Martial Arts Center. She was recently promoted to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt by Keith Florian and Kenny Florian, both Black Belts. Stand up for yourself and stay young from the inside out. Check out some of my other posts strictly for UFC fans and fighters.

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This post is related to an ongoing story:

• Zuffa buys Strikeforce - what it means for Women's MMA

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