Women's mixed martial arts

While mixed martial arts is primarily a male dominated sport, it does have female athletes.^[1][2][3][4] Female competition in Japan includes promotions such as the all-female Valkyrie, and JEWELS (formerly known as Smackgirl).^[5] However historically there has been only a select few major professional mixed martial arts organizations in the United States that invite women to compete. Among those are Strikeforce, Bellator Fighting Championships, the all female Invicta Fighting Championships, and the now defunct EliteXC.^[6][7][8][9]

There has been a growing awareness of women in mixed martial arts due to popular female fighters and personalities such as Gina Carano, Ronda Rousey, Megumi Fujii, Miesha Tate and Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos among others.^[10] Carano became known as "the face of women's MMA" after appearing in a number of EliteXC events.^[11][12][13] This was furthered by her appearances on MGM Television's 2008 revival of their game show American Gladiators.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

History

Women competing in an MMA event.

In Japan, female competition has been documented since the mid-1990s. Influenced by female professional wrestling and kickboxing, the Smackgirl competition was formed in 2001 and became the only major all-female promotion in mixed martial arts.^[19] Other early successful Japanese female organizations included Ladies Legend Pro Wrestling, ReMix (a predecessor to Smackgirl), U-Top Tournament, K-Grace, and AX.^[20][21]

In the United States, prior to the success of the The Ultimate Fighter reality show that launched mixed martial arts into the mainstream media, there was little major coverage of female competitions.^[22] Some early organizations who invited women to compete included, International Fighting Championships, SuperBrawl, King of the Cage, Rage in the Cage, Ring of Combat, Bas Rutten Invitational, and HOOKnSHOOT.^[23] From the mid-2000s, more coverage came when organizations such as Strikeforce, EliteXC, Bellator Fighting Championships, and Shark Fights invited women to compete.^[24][25][26]

Outside of Japan and the United States, female competition is almost exclusively found in minor local promotions. However in Europe some major organizations have held select female competitions, including It's Showtime, Shooto Europe, Cage Warriors, and M-1 Global.

Following Zuffa's acquisition of Strikeforce in March 2011, there has been lots of speculation concerning the future of women's competition, in term both of relevance and popularity.^{[27][28][29][30]}

The next step was for the UFC to pick up women's MMA, however UFC President Dana White was resistant. He has said, "There is not enough depth to create a women's division."^[31]

However, Dana White warmed up to the idea of including women in the UFC and solely credits Ronda Rousey as the reason women are fighting in the UFC.^[32]

Rule differentiation

The traditional MMA rules have often been adjusted for female competitions because of safety concerns. In Japan, ReMix prohibited ground-and-pound and featured a 20-second time limit for ground fighting. This rule remained following ReMix's 2001 re-branding as Smackgirl, though the time limit was extended to 30 seconds. The rule was abolished in 2008.^[33]

In the United States, women's bouts organised by EliteXC saw three-minute rounds while those of Strikeforce were originally of two minutes' duration.^[34] These lengths compare to the more usual five minutes for men.^[35][36] Strikeforce later changed this rule to allow for five-minute rounds.^[37][38]

Another form of rule differentiation is a change in both weight limits and weight classification. This has been seen in a number of organizations including, Strikeforce, Smackgirl, and Valkyrie.^[39]

While men are required to wear a groin protector, women are forbidden from doing so. Women must wear a top and chest protector, while men are allowed neither.^[40]

Milestones

Strikeforce became the first major promotion in the United States to have held a female fight as the main event on August 15, 2009. The fight between Carano and Cristiane Santos attracted 856,000 viewers.^[41] Santos made history with her victory over Carano as she became the first Strikeforce Women's 145 lb Champion.^[42] Ronda Rousey became the first woman fighter signed to the UFC and was promoted to the division's bantamweight champion. She successfully defended her title in the first UFC women's fight against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157.^[43] Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano fought at the Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale on April 13.^[44]

On December 11, 2013 the UFC picked up the contracts of 11 female fighters to fill up their 115-pound division. The Strawweights will take part in the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter, the season winner will be the first UFC women’s strawweight champion. Some of the fighters include Felice Herrig, Claudia Gadelha, Tecia Torres, Bec Hyatt, Joanne Calderwood, and even Invicta FC's Strawweight Champion Carla Esparza and many more.^[45][46] Invicta Fighting Championships in 2012 became one of the first major women's pro mma organisations.^[9][47][48]

Disagreement

Since its inception the role of women in mixed martial arts has been a subject of debate.^[49][50] Some observers have treated women's competition as a spectacle and a taboo topic.^[51][52]

References