Women in MMA - Part 2

I wrote briefly about women in MMA to highlight the CNBC documentary series - Warrior Nation. It's a behind the scenes look at the world of mixed martial arts as an emerging sport in America that also showcased Gina Carano, a women's mixed martial arts fighter.

Yesterday, I read an article posted on Brawl Sports titled, "A woman's place is in the ring" and was surprised by the difference in the quality of fights between boxing and MMA.

Steve Sievert of Brawl Sports explains his candid opinion of the state of women's boxing today:

"In 90 percent of the female fights I've seen, the combatants - seems strange to call women combatants, but anyway - would just wildly whale away with punches until one of the two landed prone on the canvas. The "Sweet Science" it was not."

In contrast, Sievert has this to say about women's MMA:

"Unlike women's boxing, these gals aren't just winging punches with reckless abandon. They are applying techniques honed in grappling, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai and kickboxing to approach this fight-sport with much more skill and discipline than I've ever seen from women inside a boxing ring."

I admit that I have not been up with women's boxing to date and because of the Warrior Nation episodes, I have drawn an interest in women's MMA. Not for the reasons you may think but for the intensity of the fights which, seems to be lacking in the male fighters of the UFC today.

When these women step into the ring, they are fully trained in various martial arts and execute each move as good, if not better than most of the up and comers in the UFC. Unfortunately, you will never see a women's division in the UFC because Dana White is dead set against it and doesn't want to see women beating each other up.

I say that's a short sighted view from the President of the UFC. These women are every bit as focused and highly skilled as their male counterparts in their respective weight divisions and the women would bring in a new crowd of UFC fan that doesn't exist in numbers today - Women.

If two women choose to partake in the mixed martial arts sport, are adequately trained, conditioned and know how to protect themselves from serious injury while knowing all the risks associated with combat sports, I say let them fight!

EliteXC (Extreme Combat) fully supports women's MMA and they are promoting women's MMA in America with very positive feedback from its fans. Dana White, please pay attention to what MMA fans are asking for and it wouldn't hurt to highlight one women's UFC fight on an undercard for an upcoming Spike TV Ultimate Fight Night for all of America to see. Let the fans decide!