The UFC made history on Saturday night at UFC 157. Dana White, just a few years back, clearly stated that women would "never" fight in the UFC. I would imagine based on the buzz, the turn out at Honda Center in LA and more importantly, based on the fight itself, he is glad he changed his tune. In the weeks leading up to this historic fight, I thought it would be foolish to spend $54.99 to watch a couple of women I knew nothing about. Luckily I decided to pay closer attention to the story behind the fight and HBO Real Sports aired an in depth look at the life of Ronda Rousey the week leading up to the fight. I've heard her on Jim Rome a few times and she is a very entertaining listen. She's a really cool cat that's easy to like and her story, from the moment she was born up to the moment she stepped into the octagon for the first time, was about as amazing as anything I've ever heard. I am confident that if you really care, you will do some research to find out what I am referring to. She worked very hard to get to this place and the opportunity she received was earned, not given to her.
I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I don't think it takes a genius to say the majority of fight fans are men. A step further, a great number of those men would be classified as male chauvinists. It's a very sticky topic that a lot of us would refuse to address, but I strongly believe that's just how it is. That makes it extremely difficult to take women seriously when it comes to fighting in the octagon. Most guys can get down with them swimming in the Olympics or playing soccer, but MMA is an entirely different beast. One of the mediums I use to judge popularity is social media and based on the posts to Facebook shortly after this fight went down, a lot of guys have changed their tune. Yes, a good number of those posts were simply "damn, Ronda Rousey is hot" but a lot of them were centered around her ability, not just her beauty. In the same breathe, I would imagine that a lot of male fight fans feel strongly that this was nothing more than a circus act and not worth the time or effort it takes to give women credit where credit is due.
A few thoughts on the fight. Ronda Rousey was wearing a serious mean mug on her way into the cage. Her eyes were burning a giant hole into the heart of Liz Carmouche and clearly both women were all business. Ronda sped her ass down the aisle, hopped in the cage without cracking as much as a smirk or smile and was ready to get this fight under way. She was in trouble early on and it should be mentioned that he opponent, former U.S. Marine Liz Carmouche, was a tougher match up than Vegas gave her credit for. Carmouche was on Rousey's back, cranking her face and attempting to sink a rear naked choke. She nearly had it locked in and for about 90 seconds, Rousey was in serious trouble. The fight seemed to be over and I was curious to see how much pain Rousey could endure, and then she shed Carmouche from her back, got on top and for the reminder of the fight was trying very hard to lock in her signature arm bar. The fight ended with about 19 seconds left in round number 1, Carmouche submitted by Rousey with that arm bar locked in really tight. It was easily the fight of the night, (fight of the night and $50,000 bonus was given to Dennis Bermudez v. Matt Grice) laced with excitement, energy and most importantly, these women showed off their skills. Both of them competed at a very high level from the moment the fight began to the moment Carmouche tapped out. It was an electric event that I thoroughly enjoyed.
When the fight ended the raw emotion we saw from both of these women was truly incredible. Rousey was nearly brought to tears and Carmouche was not far behind. Rousey broke out that signature smile that we've seen plastered across the internet and made some funny comments to Joe Rogan in the post fight interview. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Rousey's phone will be ringing off the hook in the weeks and months that follow with countless endorsement opportunities. There is also no doubt in my mind that she belongs in the UFC because of her ability to fight, her dedication to her craft and most importantly, her desire to be, not the best female, but the best fighter in the history of the sport. I'm hopeful that if you watched this fight it changed your opinion about women in the UFC, but I definitely understand if it didn't. The UFC made history, the media attention was reportedly stronger than ever before and the next question to ask is simple. What's next for the women of UFC and will fight fans watch if Rousey isn't the headliner?
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