Ronda Rousey Will Be the First Female Fighter in the UFC
UFC president Dana White tells SI.com he’s working on a female division of the UFC, largely because of Rousey’s influence.
“It’s absolutely going to happen,” White said Tuesday of the women’s division.
This is fairly big news. Up until recently, Dana White had been on record as saying that women would never fight in the UFC. This video comes from January 2011 – seven months before Ronda Rousey made her Strikeforce debut.
Things have changed since then. Cris Cyborg has tested positive for steroids and Ronda Rousey became a legitimate star. Dana White has been a well-documented fan of Rousey during her rise in fame. She is 6-0 in her professional career with 6 first round victories by arm bar. Then there is the ESPN: The Magazine: The Body Issue cover. While White’s opinion on female fighters in general might not be that much different than it was nearly two years ago, Ronda Rousey might be able to sell a pay-per-view.
Her manager told SI that Rousey still has 3 fights left with Strikeforce, but Strikeforce isn’t going to be around for three more events, let alone three more Ronda Rousey fights. The speculation can now officially – and seriously – begin about a Ronda Rousey – Cris Cyborg fight in the UFC.
Update-ish: So we knew that Dana White had warmed to women’s MMA and he had previously said that he was now interested in women in the UFC. (At least I did. What have you been doing?) MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani spoke with White tonight and now it seems like much less of a scoop for SI.
Just spoke to @danawhite about the SI report re: women to UFC. He said it's not exactly breaking news. ...
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 24, 2012
... This is the same thing he's been telling us for months. He's interested, he's open to it, but it's not a done deal by any stretch.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 24, 2012
Kinda seems like they're making this out to be much more than what it is. Nothing has changed since we all spoke to him about it this month.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 24, 2012
Huh. I guess we’ll all take our clicks and go back to waiting. Which is what we would be doing if this was an official announcement that women would definitely be in the UFC at some point. Oh, well.
Previously: Ronda Rousey – Sarah Kaufman Fight Video Gif
Previously: Ronda Rousey told Conan she is single, wants to have sex
Previously: Ronda Rousey spars with Carmen Electra
Previously: Ronda Rousey nude in ESPN’s Body Issue
Previously: Ronda Rousey calling out Michael Phelps
Previously: Ronda Rousey calling out Kim Kardashian
Previously: Ronda Rousey snapping limbs