Co-Ed in the Ring?

[Si-Je]

I was just wondering what you guys thought about MMA fights going a bit co-ed?
I've seen the women in MMA fights and their really talented, very strong, and some even weigh in at 145lbs. at times. And I wondered since some cage events have the men's feather, bantam, and light weight divisions and that these divisions seem to be filling up in the men's divisions why not go co-ed?
There seems to be a problem at times filling a women's card due to just not enough women fighters, and I was thinking why not have women fight men as long as they're in the same weight class?
A man that's 125lbs could match up against a female that's the same weight, couldn't they? Or would there be other issues that I'm not thinking of?
I was really just interested in hearing your viewpoint on this. And wondering if there is a place for having women and men compete in the cage.

 

[celtic_crippler]

I'm down! Especially if I can roll with Gina Carano! She can put me in a triangle choke any time....heh.


...hey, you had to expect this kind of response. LOL

In all seriousness...I'm down with Women's rights. IF you can do the job, then more power to you.

Of course, some people with a more "traditional" mind-set would be wholely opposed to seeing a male smash a female in the mush. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Southern Boy and momma taught me early on that under no circumstances should a man hit a woman....BUT....if she's a trained fighter and voluntarily gets in the ring for competition...that's a different story.

 

[MJS]

I'm down! Especially if I can roll with Gina Carano! She can put me in a triangle choke any time....heh.

I 2nd that!!

 

[MJS]

As for the original question....not sure if it would ever happen, but hey, its worth giving it a shot. I don't know the ratio of female fighters, especially here in the states, but even if it wasn't co-ed and say the UFC had a womens division, I'm sure it would better the sport even moreso.

 

[Si-Je]

lol! I knew there would be a fun response to guys rolling with gals.
Those women are mean in the ring.

I was just noticing that in WEC they seem to do more light weight, feather weight and bantam weight fights than the heavier classes. (for example)
Isn't there another light weight division in there too? Not sure.

But, it just seemed to me that there's alot of guy out there fighting in those weight classes and that the women's matches are a bit limited in who they can fight. There's just as many women fighting than the men. Or maybe they want to but there's not enough of a venue for the women that want to start out but can't get on a fight card.
I thought that maybe these ladies could fight in the lighter weight classes with the men to give them more of a chance to get a fight.

 

[searcher]

IMO, if you give it enough time there will be more women fighting and hence more female fights.

As far as men vs. women, even if they are of the same weight, the guy will be stronger. Maybe not more talented, but stronger none the less. And I for one, don't want to watch a guy beat on a female.

 

[jarrod]

i don't think it would even get sanctioned. besides, it's lose/lose for the man. if he wins, he's the guy who beats up on women. if he loses, he's the guy who got beat up by a girl.

jf

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

Exactly Jarrod it will never get sanctioned. So in the end I think it is a moot point.

 

[Si-Je]

IMO, if you give it enough time there will be more women fighting and hence more female fights.

As far as men vs. women, even if they are of the same weight, the guy will be stronger. Maybe not more talented, but stronger none the less. And I for one, don't want to watch a guy beat on a female.

Is MMA all about the "strength" of the opponent?
So, the stronger MAN wins?

 

[Si-Je]

Exactly Jarrod it will never get sanctioned. So in the end I think it is a moot point.

Your right, it will probably never get sanctioned. why?
Because it's a man's sport. An women are trying to get into it. and then so.....

Even if a woman learns MA she can't fight a guy even her weight because he's too strong for her? What's the point of learning martial arts then?

Even though, I don't want to start a fight. I just honestly wondered why this sort of thing is not equal?
I'd rather see a woman and a man fight it out than two women beat the hell out of eachother! Just me. I guess...
Anyways., I think there are several professional female fighters that could hold their own against a guy their same weight.
Hey. It's fair isn't it? They are the same size.
I really don't care if the man that fights the woman loses ego because he beats her or loses to her.

Which is the man's biggest scare? To beat a woman or to be beaten by her?
Ah...
that's why it will never happen.
Because a man can never gain honor fighting a woman, even if she is a fighter.
No equality in martial arts for men and women,
no equality in the world. Right?
If a guy loses to a girl then he's a wimp.
If he wins, then he's an *******?

I think that this mentality needs to be laid to rest. competition is competition. and a fight is a fight.
If someone has the "balls" to get in the ring and fight then it shouldn't matter what race, nationality, religion, or SEX they are. A fighter is a fighter.

If the UFC has no gumption to even have a women's division much less let women fight men (which is a very revolutionary idea, I know) but then well.... they are discrimating. And they are wrong to not have a women's division at that kind of pay level.
As we say in Texas., "thats' ********!"
Let the gals fight if they want to! And.. well...
They want to real bad...

 

[terryl965]

Well here goes my male side a woman should never put herself in the place of a man, I know woman can do everything a man can, but the simple facts are they cannot ever be a man. So be yourself andcompete with woman in the MA world. Beside what woman really wants to be beat on by Iceman or forest griffen or some of the others....none.

 

[Si-Je]

Well here goes my male side a woman should never put herself in the place of a man, I know woman can do everything a man can, but the simple facts are they cannot ever be a man. So be yourself andcompete with woman in the MA world. Beside what woman really wants to be beat on by Iceman or forest griffen or some of the others....none.

Maybe. But, how would you know?
There might be a gal that might want to fight such people.
And anyways, for the record we can do more than a man.
So, why not fight co-ed?
If a woman wants to, and trains for it, then why not? If they're in the same weight class? And if the woman wants to, and volenteers to. Why not?
Don't you guys like "underdogs"? lol

 

[MJS]

Is MMA all about the "strength" of the opponent?
So, the stronger MAN wins?

The following is my opinion only. While strength does play a part, it seems that today, we see people muscle their way out of things, muscle their way into subs., etc., but what I feel is more important is the technique. Perhaps why the strength is used so much, is because they're forgetting the cardinal rule....position before submission. So, if your position sucks, of course you're going to have to muscle your way.

Royce...sure, he wasn't weak, but his position and technique were superior.

Of course, defenders of strength will claim that this is the reason for weight classes. I beg to differ. Forget which UFC it was, but the entire match up consisted of smaller vs. larger guys. And yes, the smaller guys did have wins. Additionally, the current set up as far as rules go, was put into play so that the UFC would be sanctioned. If we look closely, we will see boxing type rules, not the ones that we saw in the early days.

 

[Carol]

Physiologically, a 125 pound man and a 125 pound women are not a match. The man will have more lean muscle mass than the woman and the man will have more testosterone than the woman. Testosterone plays many roles in the human body, including dulling pain and fatigue and speeding up healing from injury.

Perhaps a more even match would be if the woman was one weight class higher than the man?

Either way...rather than seeing women fight men, I would much rather see more women getting in to the game and trying it out for themselves. I do hope there is more of that in the near future.

 

[Blindside]

Is MMA all about the "strength" of the opponent?
So, the stronger MAN wins?

No, but attributes are really important, and on average men are stronger than women for the same weight.

 

[jarrod]

The following is my opinion only. While strength does play a part, it seems that today, we see people muscle their way out of things, muscle their way into subs., etc., but what I feel is more important is the technique. Perhaps why the strength is used so much, is because they're forgetting the cardinal rule....position before submission. So, if your position sucks, of course you're going to have to muscle your way.

Royce...sure, he wasn't weak, but his position and technique were superior.

Of course, defenders of strength will claim that this is the reason for weight classes. I beg to differ. Forget which UFC it was, but the entire match up consisted of smaller vs. larger guys. And yes, the smaller guys did have wins. Additionally, the current set up as far as rules go, was put into play so that the UFC would be sanctioned. If we look closely, we will see boxing type rules, not the ones that we saw in the early days.

you make some good points, but the sport has changed a lot since the david & goliath tournament you're referring to. at that time many fighters were still one-dimensional, & if the smaller fighter could take the bigger one out of his element he could win. now everyone is well-rounded, & the simple fact is that more fights are won on physical conditioning rather than technique (although that can't be overlooked either). i'm a technician first & an athelete second (well maybe third or fourth, honestly) so i'd love it if it weren't that way, but it is.

but if enough well-trained, well-conditioned women take an interest in competitive MMA, i'm sure the bigger organizations will create a woman's division. almost every combat sport through history has followed the same course; it's a man's world, a few women blaze a trail for other women, then women's divisions start to be created.

most of the women's MMA fights i've seen have been terrific fights. i reffed a jujitsu tournament a couple weeks ago, & by far the most exciting matches were the women.

jf

 

[Andrew Green]

Will never happen.

There have been a few boxing matches I think, but they where largely jokes where one of the top females was fed some nobody. As a regular part of business it will never happen though.

First footage of a man on top of a women dropping elbows and forearms to a already bloodied up face would hit every news station and paper and have every politician calling for a ban.

It's also unfair, weight classes are important in fights, and as has been said, men and women of the same weight are not going to be as even as 2 men or 2 women in terms of strength.

I think going co-ed would essentially kill women in MMA, the unequal footing would mean they would never headline shows, or fight for championship belts. You would see a increase in injuries, and a huge public backlash.

It may not be PC, but the simple truth is that men and women are different, and when it comes to combat sports are on unequal grounds.

 

[celtic_crippler]

"Never" is a long time...

We'll probably never see it in any of our lifetimes, but who's to say it won't happen some time in the future?

I'm sure at some point in the past there was discussion as to whether a woman would ever be allowed to vote with men.

 

[Carol]

In the Beijing Olympics, it seemed like if we weren't talking about Michael Phelps, we were talking about beach volleyball...and the women's team got a lot of attention.

Yes, it was a chance for the world to see fit women in bikinis. The ladies also play one helluva good ball game. I don't think the talents of the ladies, or respect for their athleticism would be quite the same if the teams were co-ed.

I see something similar with women MMA fighters. There are a few fighters out there (sadly not enough) with one helluva game, and I think there is potential for women to get more and more acclaim in the sport as the popularity grows.

But...circling back to what Si-Je is saying...there's not as many women fighting than there are men. That leads to less opportunities, less chances to get experience, less ways to make a name for oneself.

Is there a feasible way around this stumbling block?

 

[LuckyKBoxer]

There is no way it can be done with safety in mind. The male and female bodies are too different and the female and male weighing the same are still going to have a drastically different ratio of muscle and fat. I have no doubts that a woman can develop the skill level equal to that or greater then a man, that is not the issue. A woman may very well even be able to beat a man in an MMA fight. But there is no chance that a Woman will be able to compete at the top levels of their given weight classes with a man, the ceiling for their potential athletically at the top level is so much lower then that of a man that it is unfair to the women to put them in that position. No definitely not. It is just a freak show that has been used as a gimmick in the past, and has no place in professional sports venues.