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[The Sword]

Equal Fights for Woman in MMA - MMA Disputed
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Woman in MMA has been flourishing lately with likes of Miesha Tate, Cyborg, and Gina Carano all making their names well known across the community. However, with the UFC declining to allow woman fighters in their company local fighter Felice Herrig decided to take action.

Felice Herrig who is a local Chicago fighter decided to make a movement toward getting the same recognizably of woman fighters as do the men of the sport gain. She has created a facebook orgazination entitled "Equal Fights MMA" and the page currently has 280 people already following. This the following quote from the page regarding what the movement is all about.

"Equal Fights MMA is dedicated to raising the profile of female MMA fighters and championing equal rights and equal fights for all fighters, regardless of gender. We believe that women should be able to fight professionally in any venue and any organization."

This is just another step towards getting woman in every MMA orgazination and ignoring their gender. The UFC has been hesitant to let woman into their orgazination and Dana White echoed that statement in January.

I started thinking the other day, why dose strikeforce put so much stock in the 145 pound class. I mean the 145 pound class as gina and Cyborg. while the 135 pound class as Coenen, Kaufman, Tate just to name a few. Why dosent strikeforce put more time an effort into marketing this weight class? Is it because Gina at 145? I mean don't get me wrong I love Gina, not just because of the way she looks, but I really enjoy her fighting style. It just seems to me that if they put more time into marketing the 135 pound class it would be better for WMMA, because that seems to me the more stacked divison. Thoughts?

[KevoOnTheRadio]

You're the Susan B Anthony of WMMA.

I agree they should focus more on 135 for the moment, but they have GOT to find some challengers for Cyborg at 145.

[SinnerTim]

I agree with you on the weight classes, I think 135 is more stacked personally.

Dana has always said that the lack of talent in WMMA is the reason he doesn't run with it, which is the bottom line. WMMA doesn't have enough to make compelling storylines that people want to see. I like the idea of them trying to get their names out there, it's the first step, if the fans want to see it, Dana will do it, trust me. Why would he throw away the money?

[LethalStriker]

Womens MMA is never really going to be that much more then a novelty act. Even if you feature women fights on cards a lot you can only do that for like a year straight, otherwise you'll have used up every interesting matchup that there is.

[The Sword]

Originally Posted by KevoOnTheRadio

You're the Susan B Anthony of WMMA.
I agree they should focus more on 135 for the moment, but they have GOT to find some challengers for Cyborg at 145.

I guess so.

[Daellusx]

Eh, dont get me wrong but there really isnt as much interest in seeing women's mma as you may think. It's kind of like the WNBA. The fans of it swear that it's great and that tons of people watch it but when you compare it to the NBA it really isnt all that popular. I'm not against women's MMA and I actually do enjoy it. I just think we really need to be realistic about it. There just arnt that many stars in women's MMA for it to be worth much marketing.There needs to be more Gina's or Cyborgs in the division for it to really be worth the push. For now I think we're going to have to face the truth that women's MMA will fill a niche in MMA and probably only consists of 1, maybe 2 weight classes.

Women's MMA really needs more superstars like Gina who can market themselves. They need more women who have that "it" factor that makes people want to watch them. Gina has it, Cyborg has it, but there needs to be more in order for their divisions to grow. And lets just face it, how many women "really" aspire to get in the ring and beat each other up for a living? Hell Gina herself pretty much walked away from MMA after the beat down she got from Cyborg and is just now coming back. My guess is she'll walk away again if she loses because of how much easier it is for her to make a living based on her looks.

[beau420]

Originally Posted by Daellusx

Eh, dont get me wrong but there really isnt as much interest in seeing women's mma as you may think. It's kind of like the WNBA. The fans of it swear that it's great and that tons of people watch it but when you compare it to the NBA it really isnt all that popular. I'm not against women's MMA and I actually do enjoy it. I just think we really need to be realistic about it. There just arnt that many stars in women's MMA for it to be worth much marketing.There needs to be more Gina's or Cyborgs in the division for it to really be worth the push. For now I think we're going to have to face the truth that women's MMA will fill a niche in MMA and probably only consists of 1, maybe 2 weight classes.

Women's MMA really needs more superstars like Gina who can market themselves. They need more women who have that "it" factor that makes people want to watch them. Gina has it, Cyborg has it, but there needs to be more in order for their divisions to grow. And lets just face it, how many women "really" aspire to get in the ring and beat each other up for a living? Hell Gina herself pretty much walked away from MMA after the beat down she got from Cyborg and is just now coming back. My guess is she'll walk away again if she loses because of how much easier it is for her to make a living based on her looks.

Exactly.

Even at 135, in WMMA, there are maybe 4-5 good fights that would be worth watching....then what?

At 145...2-3 good fights maybe in all of WMMA?

And like Daellusx compares to WNBA, people will still look at it as the lesser of MMA, like WNBA. Less action, no dunks, etc.

And organizations who have WMMA, they always have to worry about that other female stuff...like getting pregnant and taking off more than a year and females and their periods and in turn having weigh in issues.

The depth of WMMA is the real problem...depth and to me, it will always be a lesser sport than MMA. No disrespect...they are very skilled...but I don't really care for any woman's sport compared to any male sport....if I had the choice, I will always watch the men's over the women.

I will continue to watch female MMA. But the talent pool is shallow and I think has nearly peaked.

[born2kill]

Personally I enjoy womans mma alot. Its adds a nice variety to shows, especially the undercard fights which tend to bore me. I'd rather have 2 newbie mens fights & 2 womens fights, than have 4 newbie mens fights.
Of course their skills not as polished as the men, but its really interesting to watch them develop their craft & watch the evolution of mma all over again, from a different angle. It just sucks that theres not enough fights out there. But i'm sure that if the UFC wont do it, some other group will see the potential & try to make it happen.

[Luc1an]

Cyborg should fight the guys at 145 and shed still prolly do ok against most of em...

[MMAMainiac]

Originally Posted by beau420

Exactly.

Even at 135, in WMMA, there are maybe 4-5 good fights that would be worth watching....then what?

At 145...2-3 good fights maybe in all of WMMA?

And like Daellusx compares to WNBA, people will still look at it as the lesser of MMA, like WNBA. Less action, no dunks, etc.

And organizations who have WMMA, they always have to worry about that other female stuff...like getting pregnant and taking off more than a year and females and their periods and in turn having weigh in issues.

The depth of WMMA is the real problem...depth and to me, it will always be a lesser sport than MMA. No disrespect...they are very skilled...but I don't really care for any woman's sport compared to any male sport....if I had the choice, I will always watch the men's over the women.

I will continue to watch female MMA. But the talent pool is shallow and I think has nearly peaked.

It was only a matter of time for someone to mention "periods" in this discussion....we have a winner