AP Several questions arose when Zuffa, the UFC’s parent company, bought Strikeforce early in 2011. What did the move mean for the future of the sport and the two organizations? Will there be crossover fights? As to the second question, not yet. But it will be easier for fighters to jump organizations. Nick Diaz vacated his Strikeforce welterweight belt to challenge the UFC’s Georges St. Pierre for his.
Will the UFC simply swallow the Strikeforce name and roster, spitting out any fighters not needed? Another unknown, but it’s a possibility. If it did, would that list of fighters not kept include the entire female roster? Women’s MMA is certainly in danger of taking a step back. What does its future hold?
The answer may be found by simply looking at women’s boxing. Wait, is there still women’s boxing? I absolutely believe that women’s MMA can someday be as popular as women’s boxing, provided that’s still breathing. That should be their hope – not to thrive, but to survive. To expect the women to be as popular as the men is unrealistic. Just to be able to make a living doing what you love is nothing to sneeze at.
Dana White’s not much interested in the women, saying there’s simply not enough depth. And he’s right. There are just a few names recognizable to the average fan. Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos is the pound-for-pound best of the women, but hasn’t fought in over a year and is in a contract dispute at the moment. Gina Carano is another popular name, but she hasn’t been seen in the cage since 2009 when she lost to Santos. A name doesn’t make a great fight, but it does interest viewers, and there aren’t enough names to consistently do so.
The truth is, men aren’t attracted to women when they’re fighting. It doesn’t have the same appeal as Anna Kournikova grunting in a short skirt. It’s not a cat fight, it’s a real fight. It’s not fair that women’s sports should depend on factors such as this, but that’s the case. Not to mention the alternatives to viewers. It’s the same problem that the WNBA faces – there are men who are better at the sport that you can watch. And if people don’t want to watch, where do you go from there?
The appeal for the best female fight is not as high as for just an average male fight in the sport. If you’re not attracting eyeballs, it’s harder to stay in business. Being included with a primarily male organization was a huge bonus for the women.
If you’re rooting for women’s MMA, you’re rooting for Strikeforce to stay Strikeforce. As long as the organization is owned by Zuffa but conducts their business separately, the women are likely to be kept on. If, however, the powers-that-be decide to combine the two rosters, it’s far less likely the women will come along.
The sale of Strikeforce prompted questions that could be answered in many different ways. There are many unknowns. The future of women’s MMA, however, is an easy one to answer. It won’t be extinct. It will live on in some form, for some organization, as long as there are some athletes and some interest. Just don’t expect much more. The WNBA has struggled in relation to the NBA. Women’s boxing has struggled in relation to men’s boxing. The real question is, why should we expect anything different from women’s MMA?
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Previously on The Beatdown …
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Tim Gilmour is a sports reporter and author of the humor blog LetMeThinkForYou.com. His column appears each Monday.
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- darkdrakonis - Aug 2, 2011 at 10:57 AM
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I honestly disagree with you on all counts. The ladies I know are no less exciting to watch than the men are. Sure maybe they dont so all the same flashy moves that some of the men try to pull off, but remember at the end of the fight they are still ladies, they fight with finess and composure and not anger and emotions… Also, MMA isn’t about watching the fighters be attractive. you show me one woman who watches MMA solely on the fact that a guy is hot and that will be the first and only woman to watch it for that reason.
Everyone has a different view on what’s beautiful and I can tell you now that most of the MMA ladies including Miesha Tate and Gina Carano are more beautiful than a good 95% of women in all other sports today.
To your final question… you can expect more from women’s MMA because there is more and its exciting to watch for people that respect the sport… Men and women who respect the sport respect the women and enjoy watching them…. The case isnt the same for WNBA and boxing… and its shown over the years…
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- skids003 - Aug 2, 2011 at 3:13 PM
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Well said. I enjoy watching the ladies as much as the men. I think the thing that might hurt them some is that there doesn’t seem to be as many knockouts as the men have. Is that true? I’m not sure, it just seems they have alot more decisions and tapouts, and frankly, people like to see KO’s.
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- Deidre Silva - Aug 3, 2011 at 12:51 PM
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“Wait, is there still women’s boxing?”"
Wait….you call yourself a sports writer?
Not only is there “still” Women’s boxing, it is an Olympic sport.
Also, regarding your argument about why bother watching a women’s spors when there’s the men do the sport better, it’s a lame argument. I’m not here to argue whether a men’s version is better than any given women’s sport, but I think there are plenty people around who watch NCAA basketball, when there is a “better” product to watch in the NBA. Why would anyone watch the Kansas City Royals?
And agreed with a previous poster, the men aren’t out there fighting because they think they look hot to women. And nor are the women looking for dates. It’s a job. If they love doing it, all the more power to them.
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- Girlboxing - Aug 8, 2011 at 11:48 AM
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I admit that I’m new to MMA — and while I’ve done the odd piece about it on my blog, I haven’t got much experience with the sport and only watch it occasionally on television when there’s no boxing on. That’s usually meant catching part of a Strikeforce fight card on Showtime.
What had struck me about Strikeforce was the fact that there is always at least one women’s bout on the card, not to mention the seeming popularity of the women’s bouts. Just this weekend I watched the Women’s Welterweight Championship bout between Marloes “Rumina” Coenen and Miesha “Takedown” Tate. Tate pulled out a convincing upset win over Coenen — and again, as a novice to watching the sport with about zero understanding of the politics of Strikeforce, et al, found it to be quite an interesting addition to the world of women’s sports in general.
With Chandler’s piece, however, come all sorts of questions as to whether women’s participation in the sport of MMA will continue at all — or as Chandler writes will “the answer … be found by simply looking at women’s boxing. Wait is there still women’s boxing?”
Ugh! What!?! Is there still women’s boxing? Pa-lease!
Chandler’s thesis is that with Strikeforce’s recent sale to Zuffa (the UFC’s parent company), a situation may have been set up whereby the Strikeforce roster will be swallowed up by the UFC and the women’s roster jettisoned in the process. Chandler further opines that the UFC doesn’t have the same interest in the women’s side of the sport as Strikeforce because there aren’t enough “stars” if you will, with the name recognition to draw in the crowds.
So what it boils down to (I think) is this:
a. Strikeforce found it to be “good” business to develop male and female talent and as such has found success and a growing *interest* in women’s MMA bouts and the fighters who compete in them. (I’ll add that I’ve been applauding them all along and — how sad is this — tauting them as a model of inclusion because they televise women’s bouts!)
b. Along comes UFC and the potential for jettisoning the women’s roster of the “old” Strikeforce and a repositioning of the brand towards a more exclusively male roster. Hmm… no longer good business???
c. It’s the fault of women’s MMA (women’s boxing … and women’s sports in general) for not engendering (pun intended) enough interest in women’s athletics, because (1) women fighters are not attractive when they beat the crap out of each other and (2) to quote Chandler again, “the appeal for the best female fight is not as high as for just an average male fight in the sport. If you’re not attracting eyeballs, it’s harder to stay in business. Being included with a primarily male organization was a huge bonus for the women.”
So back to the contradiction again. If women’s MMA was so horrible why buy Strikeforce in the first place?!?
I don’t know about you, but I find this logic to be very twisted indeed. And P.S. — in watching the Tate-Coenen fight I didn’t think about gender, I thought about fighting! Was it interesting? Were they skilled? Weaknesses/strengths and so on.
Enough already.
If a fighter has the courage to put herself in the ring why should it matter how big her breasts are or whether she has a cute booty! A fight is a fight. Put Torres-Nava I or II up against any fight card from over the past month and what will you come up with in terms of skills, heart, stamina and to use the word again pure courage. I can tell you the answer, none.
All I can say at this point is GRRRRRRR.
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- skids003 - Aug 9, 2011 at 9:42 AM
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Well said, I agree 100% percent.
