When Will Women’s MMA Be As Popular As Men’s?

Women’s MMA has certainly come a long way in recent years; from being, in essence, a sub-genre to the more mainstream male fights, to headlining UFC events in more recent times. It didn’t seem that long ago that UFC President Dana White dismissed the idea of ever entertaining the idea on the world’s biggest stage.

Fast forward to present day and Ronda Rousey is becoming a very well known name in the sport, so much that DW introduced the first mixed gender edition of hit reality show The Ultimate Fighter. A lot can change in just a few years.

Still though, we find WMMA playing second fiddle to their male counterparts. Women’s combat sports is still in the very early stages of it’s infancy, but it’s stars have been doing everything possible to make it hit the big time. With all the exciting bouts in the division over the last 12 months, could WMMA make a smoother transition than it’s predecessor?

MMA going mainstream has clearly paved the way for WMMA and it’s top talent; Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Cat Zingano even Cyborg have experienced something that the old school of the UFC, Pancrase, Vale Tudo and even the Pride FC days never got to; overnight stardom.

To put it in to perspective, Ronda Rousey has only been competing as a professional since March 2011 and in those 34 months has accomplished more than Mark Coleman did in his entire career. Coleman competed from 1996-2010, but in comparison had a pretty unheralded career. A lot also has to do with the era of ‘The Hammer’s’ prime.

Back then Women’s MMA was unheard of, but so was Men’s. ‘Cage Fighting’ was known of, but would never have been packaged as anything but a bloodsport. Even the early days of the UFC was an amateur attempt at selling an unknown entity to a group of blood thirsty beer swillers.

So WMMA has the added advantage of time spent on it’s side, but public opinion on Women competing in combat sports has also changed. Women’s boxing has gained a lot of recognition in the time since early MMA, and so Women’s MMA had a direct line in to the limelight. But when will the transition come when WMMA is on an even par with their opposites?

Something I’ve heard over the airwaves is that Women’s MMA seems more amateur-ish, and thus lacks excitement from a technical viewpoint. I personally enjoy watching Rousey, Tate and many other lesser known female athletes put on a show; but there is a comparison to be made in the style of fighting.

The fact that there is only one weight class certainly narrows the scope in a few areas. For instance, the UFC Heavyweight division has the heavy hitters, as does LHW to a degree and the lighter classes become more speedy and acrobatic. A clear disparity in styles and techniques over the space of a 140lb weight difference; something that WMMA is missing out on.

I’m not sure that such a big weight difference in WMMA would be such a great idea, but perhaps a slightly wider spectrum would allow for more wiggle room. As far as styles is concerned, I think that there are plenty of exciting match ups for the up and comers in WMMA.

It becomes clear that some fans are uncomfortable with seeing Women compete. It doesn’t surprise me to hear that, and I’m comfortable with others and their opinions; but perhaps a broad-minded approach by us fans would also be an aid to their efforts.

With all the change going on in MMA, the constant evolution is hard to predict without a degree of algorithm but I think that WMMA could expand exponentially in the near future. Perhaps the wake of UFC 168’s co-main event between Rousey and Tate will provide the nudge needed to complete the transition.