Equality in the Octagon: How the UFC’s women have TKO’d the gender gap in combat sports
Women’s sport often has to fight for equality on a male-dominated sporting landscape, but the women of the UFC are winning that fight, writes SunSport’s MMA reporter Simon Head
EVER since Dana White wisely went back on his statement that women would “never” fight in the UFC, the women of the Octagon have continually pushed the boundaries and risen to become some of the biggest stars in the sport.
It’s a rare sporting situation where female athletes receive equal billing and equal ‘game time’ to their male counterparts.
While female boxers compete over shorter rounds and tennis stars play fewer sets (even female dart players compete over a shorter format), there’s also the issue of coverage. All too often women’s sport isn’t given the same platform as their male equivalents.
There has been a push, particularly here in the UK, for more coverage of women's sport.
BT hosts an annual ‘Action Woman’ awards gala for the best female sporting achievers of the year (congratulations to mountain bike star Rachel Atherton for deservedly winning this year's accolade) and we've seen female sporting figures like Jessica Ennis-Hill, Nicola Adams and Laura Kenny (nee Trott) become household names through their successes on the Olympic stage.
But away from the Olympics, women's sport still faces a battle for equal coverage, and in some cases respect, across much of the sporting world.
Refreshingly, this isn’t really the case in the UFC, where women’s bouts are staged alongside men’s contests, with top-level female fights given main or co-main event status on merit and promoted as strongly as their male counterparts.
UFC 193 in Melbourne last November produced a record-breaking attendance at the Etihad Stadium, the biggest venue to ever stage a live UFC event.
That event was headlined by not one, but TWO women’s world title fights, as Holly Holm upset Ronda Rousey and Joanna Jedrzejczyk outpointed Valerie Letourneau.
And this summer, after a turbulent run-up that saw Daniel Cormier’s eagerly-awaited rematch with Jon Jones scrapped due to Jones’ failed USADA drug test, the UFC once again turned to their female stars, as Amanda Nunes defeated defending champ Miesha Tate to claim the UFC women’s bantamweight title in the main event at the promotion's landmark event, UFC 200.
There’s no tokenism here. No patronising. No soft sell. No concessions. Women’s fights are given the same big-time treatment that the men’s bouts receive, are conducted under the same rules and are pitched and promoted on the same level. And justifiably so.
Led initially by the trailblazing Rousey (who convinced White to make his U-turn and allow women to fight in the Octagon) the women’s side of the sport has developed quickly in the UFC, with the two established weight classes - 135lb bantamweight and 115lb strawweight - now among the most exciting in the promotion.
After Rousey’s dominant reign was ended in shocking fashion by Holly Holm’s head kick, the bantamweight title has passed from fighter to fighter like a hot potato as challenger after challenger upset the odds to claim UFC gold.
And on December 30 the latest woman to hold the championship belt, Brazil’s Amanda Nunes, will face the returning Rousey as the division turns full circle with the former all-conquering champion arriving on the scene as the challenger.
While Rousey’s dominant era as champion has been and gone, Poland’s Jedrzejczyk continues to rule over the UFC’s strawweight division, with challengers being dispatched either in devastating fashion or, in the case of her last two fights with Claudia Gadelha and Karolina Kowalkiewicz, after thrilling five-round wars.
If ever there was a fighter in the UFC who deserved to be the next crossover star, it’s Jedrzejczyk. With a twinkle in her eye and a mischievous sense of humour, ‘Joanna Champion’ has fast become one of the most popular fighters among hard-core MMA fans for her tenacity inside the cage and affable personality outside it.
And on Saturday night in Sacramento two of the rising stars of the strawweight division, Paige VanZant and Michelle Waterson, will do battle in an attempt to propel themselves towards a shot at Jedrzejczyk and her 115lb title.
That fight forms the main event of a UFC Fight Night event that will bid farewell to one of MMA’s true legends.
Sacramento’s own Urijah Faber will bring the curtain down on a stellar career when he takes on Britain’s Brad ‘One Punch’ Pickett. But despite Faber’s popularity among the fanbase and respect within the sport, he isn’t headlining the event.
Slotting Faber v Pickett into that main event spot would have been an easy decision for the UFC to make given The California Kid’s popularity. Yet they’ve chosen to showcase the rising talents of VanZant and Waterson at the top of the card instead.
It’s just the latest example of the UFC giving women’s MMA and its athletes the platform - and the equality - they deserve.
And with the UFC announcing this week the creation of a new 145lb featherweight division, the opportunities for elite female fighters continues to grow as women's MMA - just four years after its introduction into the UFC - makes further strides in its development.
UFC Fight Night: VanZant v Waterson takes place on Saturday night, live on BT Sport 2 from 10pm.
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