When Dana White announced that Ronda Rousey had signed a contract with the UFC and the organization would be launching the women’s bantamweight division, skeptics expected a house of cards built around the inaugural champion.
As soon as Rousey lost or followed in Gina Carano’s footsteps and disembarked for Hollywood, the UFC was sure to distance themselves from women’s MMA. This was a one-time thing done solely because of the marketability and drawing power of the Olympic silver medallist with a penchant for brutal armbars.
Eighteen months after Rousey’s first foray into the Octagon, the UFC is on the brink of launching its second women’s division — the 115-pound strawweight class — with a bout between Brazilian Claudia Gadelha and Finland’s Tina Lahdemaki.
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While Wednesday’s bout will serve as the official starting point for the weight class, things will kick off in earnest when 16 of the top competitors populate The Ultimate Fighter 20, where for the first time in the history of the long-running reality TV competition, the winner will be crowned the first UFC women’s strawweight champion.
After what White called the most disappointing season in quite some time, the 20th season of TUF — which is being filmed now and will air starting in September — finally introduces a new wrinkle to make it interesting (fighting for a championship) and the all-female cast has already had some flare-ups in the house, according to White.
But just as adding Rousey and the women’s bantamweight ranks wasn’t a gimmick, this new division isn’t being created as a temporary addition to the organization either and the UFC deserves a great deal of credit for taking this step.
It’s understandable that there are people who will want to argue that women belonged in the UFC from the outset, but the reality is the UFC is a private corporation that can do what it pleases. While equality is a noble idea, there was nothing compelling them to bring women into the fold until Rousey came along.
Give the UFC credit for seeing the depth in the 115-pound ranks and recognizing that, perhaps even more than the bantamweights, the strawweight division is capable of being an ultra-competitive addition to the organization.
The TUF 20 cast includes four of the Top 10 fighters in the division, including Carla Esparza (No. 2) and Joanne Calderwood (No. 4), veterans like Aisling Daly, Lisa Ellis and Heather Clark, emerging talents like Rose Namajunas and Canadian Randa Markos, plus No. 2-ranked atomweight Jessica Penne.
Gadelha, who debuts Wednesday, is ranked No. 3 in the division and Lahdemaki is an undefeated 26-year-old with potential. The division also has Paige Van Zant, a 20-year-old up-and-coming star training out of Team Alpha Male in Sacramento.
Before a single fight in the division has even hit the cage, there is depth within the weight class and talent spread out between established pros and promising newcomers, all of which points to a permanent place inside the Octagon for the 115-pound competitors, just like the female bantamweights.
White was criticized for his proclamation a few years ago that women would never fight in the UFC, which means this move should earn him some praise, as adding a second female weight class to the organization less than two years after Rousey and Liz Carmouche became the first women to walk out to compete inside the Octagon is a major step forward from where it once was.
There is even more reason for optimism going forward as well.
Earlier this year, the UFC announced that Fight Pass would become the exclusive home of Invicta FC, the all-female organization helmed by industry veteran Shannon Knapp, where many of the TUF 20 contestants were selected from. Last week, Invicta announced the date of its first Fight Pass show — a 10-fight event with dual championship headliners, including Stephanie Eggink and Katja Kankaanpaa vying for the vacant Invicta strawweight title, a belt Esparza held before earning a spot on TUF 20.
A couple of days later it was announced that Invicta FC featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino was moving to bantamweight, fuelling speculation of an eventual showdown between the Brazilian wrecking machine and Rousey. When Cyborg does hit the cage, it will be on Fight Pass, as will the rest of the Invicta FC roster.
Not only will potential UFC call-ups in the bantamweight and strawweight divisions now be showcased on the company’s digital platform, but so too will the other weight classes under the Invicta FC banner. The talent that populates those ranks includes flyweight champ Barb Honchak and atomweight titleholder Michelle Waterson, who headlines Invicta FC 8 on Sept. 6 opposite Yasuko Tamada.
Less than two years ago, no females had competed in the UFC. On Wednesday evening, Gadelha and Lahdemaki will become the first competitors in the organization’s second women’s division to battle it out under the UFC banner.
That is a tremendous positive for the sport and another step forward for the UFC.