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[Cat--Smasher]

Women fighting in the UFC? Dana White says it's still possible, in time

In fact, following this past weekend's UFC on FX 3 event, he sees a parallel between women's MMA and the UFC's newly adopted flyweight division.

Currently, the UFC's sister promotion, Strikeforce, hosts a handful of annual women's fights. Reigning bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (5-0 MMA, 3-0 SF), in fact, headlines an Aug. 18 card opposite ex-champ Sarah Kaufman (15-1 MMA, 6-1 SF) on Showtime.

But those are two of the division's elite fighters, and White believes few others are anywhere near their level.

"My thing with the female fighting is that I love Ronda Rousey, man," said White, who's had the Olympian and fan favorite at a number of recent UFC and Strikeforce events. "She's as tough and as nasty as it comes. I love Ronda, but I think Ronda is one of those girls that's up here. You have a lot of girls who compete in the sport that aren't on her level.

"It's not about having women's fights. It's about having enough good women in a division."

Until that time comes – and organizations such as the all-female Invicta and Jewels promotion are doing a solid job developing talent to make it a reality – White can't see adding them to the UFC. And it's not a gender thing. After all, the UFC adopted 125-pound flyweights to the men's divisions only this year.

Joseph Benavidez advanced to the finale of the UFC's inaugural flyweight championship tournament earlier this year, and Demetrious Johnson edged Ian McCall this past weekend to emerge as his opponent. Through the course of the four-man tournament and a handful of other 125-pound contests in the UFC, White thinks the organization has proven enough depth.

In time, the women's divisions could follow suit, he said.

"I think after you've seen these two (Johnson and McCall) fight, and you know Benavidez, you know who the top three fighters are in the world, and then there's a whole list of guys under them," White said. "If you had a whole division, there's a lot you could do.

"But we don't have that in the women's divisions yet."

Women fighting in the UFC? Dana White says it's still possible, in time | MMAjunkie.com

[dj triple]

the best female fighters are.. ronda, cyborg, gina, sarah and kimbo slice..

[KevoOnTheRadio]

Originally Posted by dj triple

the best female fighters are.. ronda, cyborg, gina, sarah and kimbo slice..

No love for Tate or Sapp?

[CtGreat]

Which is more popular right now, female MMA or female boxing?

[GL Jeff]

The problem is you lost the biggest draw in MMA when Gina left, she lost a fight to someone clearly using steroids and left the sport for a more stable and lucrative career. Now you have Ronda filling the spot,but one fight cant make up for the lack of depth women's MMA has.

[Esox Express]

Originally Posted by KevoOnTheRadio

No love for Tate or Sapp?

I bet Tate or Rousey could actually beat Bob Sapp in the first round fairly easily.

I think women's mma is still a ways off in the future... but it will always be veiled in the long cast shadow of its male counterpart just like every other women's sport.

[MIZjitsZOU]

I am down for wommen's MMA. I think they could be in the ufc. I definitely wouldn't mind seeing a couple of womens fights on a card (1 at most on ppv).

I get as pumped to see Rousey fight as anyone. War Rousey.

[joeodd2]

I enjoy watching WMMA the striking still sucks, but it's getting better, it might never be as good as the men's. But grappling, that's were the fun is. This girls can bend in ways that would cause most of their male counterparts to pull a muscle or tear something. the scrambles and reversals are fun to watch. I think WMMA could get there with the right female celebrity endorsements, once teenage girls start doing it more and more, maybe throw in a famous pop star or two doing it, then that shit could catch on like wildfire.....