UFC 167 - First Female Maincard Fight

[Mauthos]

I, for one, am looking forward to UFC 157 this weekend with the headlining fight being Rhonda Rousey defending her bantamweight title against Liz Carmouche.

What are other peoples thoughts about this?

Several people have claimed, as they did with female boxing, that combative sports are not the place for female competitors. In fact, at one point, Dana White had actually said he would never allow female fighters to compete within the UFC.

However, with the growing popularity of the sport, he, in my opinion, quite rightly, has gone back on that statement and I believe there as there are a lot of very talented hard working female MMA fighters out there, this will help to promote the sport further. Although, no doubt the haters out there will claim it is wrong, a blood sport (again) etc, etc.

The only real question I have is, will Rhonda Rousey win by armbar again?

Edit: Apologies for the incorrect UFC number referenced in the title.

 

[celtic_crippler]

My only issue is that Dana just handed her the belt. I feel it would have been better to hold a bracket-style tournie to fill the new championship

 

[Steve]

My only problem with this is that the division is exactly one person deep. There is Rhonda Rousey and then several notches down is a group of maybe ten or fifteen fighters, and then several notches below that is everyone else.

I'm not interested in seeing fighters (female or otherwise) get murdered in the ring over and over.

I will be very, very surprised if this fight goes into round 2. The only way Rousey loses is if she just doesn't take it seriously.

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[Carol]

I am looking forward to seeing her fight, even if she does win by another armbar

I hope this is the beginning of more female fighters on UFC.

 

[Noah_Legel]

I am really excited to see this fight--it is an historic event in combat sports, and it should be a fun fight! I am a fan of Ronda, and have been since I watched her compete in the 2008 Olympics, so I'll be rooting for her and I fully expect her to win her fight, but Liz Carmouche is no slouch and was seconds away from being the Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion not too long ago, so she shouldn't be underestimated. The fact that Liz is the first openly homosexual fighter in the UFC makes this event even more impressive, and I'm a fan of hers, too.

With regards to Dana giving her the belt--he did the same thing with Jose Aldo when the UFC absorbed the WEC, if I remember correctly. I believe that their policy is that any new divisions without champions will have a tournament-type arrangement to determine the champion, and any new divisions they carry over from another organization will retain the same champion they already have.

With regards to depth in the division--every sport starts somewhere, and women's MMA is growing. There are women in that division who are very skilled MMA fighters, even if their grappling isn't on par with Ronda's which allows her to win very quickly. There are up-and-comers (including Sara McMann, an Olympic Silver Medalist in Wrestling) that are showing great skills and potential. Give it time and a strong platform to showcase itself, and the talent pool will grow.

 

[Steve]

I think we're at least five years from any serious parity in the division.



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[Twin Fist]

it had to have a superstar to get started, there is always a lag between the superstars and the rabble

it will even itself out in time

 

[ballen0351]

Does not excite me at all. I don't find womans fighting to be that entertaining. I like woman's judo and BJJ comps but boxing and MMA not so much. I don't have a problem with it by all means have at it I just don't normally watch it.

 

[jezr74]

I think Ronda will take it.

I'd be interested in seeing Rousey take on Chris Cyborg. But Ronda will only do it of Cyborg will drop to her weight.


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[Twin Fist]

Cyborg should be banned FOR LIFE, i would REFUSE to fight a proven steroid junkie

 

[punisher73]

Cyborg should be banned FOR LIFE, i would REFUSE to fight a proven steroid junkie

As opposed to all the other steroid junkies that haven't been caught? :wink2:

 

[jezr74]

Cyborg should be banned FOR LIFE, i would REFUSE to fight a proven steroid junkie

She's done the time. So guess she is valid to redeem herself.

I find it hard to judge people on steroid use these days, as punisher was indicating, you never know who's on it. And you also get naive players who get given supplements and don't know or something that is legal today is not when they fight four months later. Also some athletes can afford to train in high altitude conditions that others don't have access to, that's fairly common and can have the same benefits of chemical enhancements.


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[Steve]

She's done the time. So guess she is valid to redeem herself.

I find it hard to judge people on steroid use these days, as punisher was indicating, you never know who's on it. And you also get naive players who get given supplements and don't know or something that is legal today is not when they fight four months later. Also some athletes can afford to train in high altitude conditions that others don't have access to, that's fairly common and can have the same benefits of chemical enhancements.


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They're all on something. Doesn't matter the sport. If there is money to be made, and a pill or shot could mean the difference between 5 digits or 6 on payday... Or maybe you're an athlete on the bubble between getting cut or not... It's about making your living.

Whether its cycling, football, soccer, baseball, or whatever. If there is an artificial way to gain an edge, it's being done.

But regarding cyborg, Rousey holds all the cards, and if cyborg wants to remain relevant, she will either cut to rousey's class (whether its healthy or not) or negotiate a catch weight match. Rousey doesn't need cyborg, but cyborg most definitely needs Rousey.


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[jezr74]

Yep, agree.

I think there is a ferocity with Chris and Ronda, that I don't see in Liz.

 

[Twin Fist]

as far as cyborg is concerned, what you are seeing is 'roid rage

cheaters lose the right to continue to compete

 

[jezr74]

as far as cyborg is concerned, what you are seeing is 'roid rage

cheaters lose the right to continue to compete

Don't think it's "roid rage", aside from not agreeing there is such a thing (I know a lot of bodybuilders that are openly on steroids and I've never seen this rage people have mentioned before) I think it's more a tactic used by people for arguments sake rather than actual knowledge of what steroids can do to a person medically and psychologically.

The ferocity I've seen has been from earlier fights, a lot earlier. She just seems to have this natural instinct that you see in some fighters.

 

[Twin Fist]

i dont care if she is sugar ray robinson reincarnated, she cheated

i dont care what else a cheater did or didnt do, it is ALL tainted, just like Royce Gracie, hell, he cheated and still lost.

 

[Mauthos]

I don't necessarily disagree with you Twin, but there have been plenty of examples of steroid use within the UFC, when the baby face assassin (can't remember his real name) beat Randy Couture for the title, it was later uncovered that he had used steroids and tbh, looking at his eyes when he won it was quite apparent.

Yes, he was stripped of the title and Randy was offered it back, which he refused claiming a loss was a loss no matter the situation. But once old baby face was confirmed as clean he was allowed to compete again.

The same has been done for Chris Leben, who has, if I remember correctly been tested positive for steroids at one time and also for cocaine. He was also temporarily banned but allowed to compete again once proven his system was clean again. Another example is Chael Sonnen who tested positive for a form of performance enhancing drug when he almost beat Anderson Silva. Not only has he been back he has had another title shot since and is due for another one in April against Jon Jones.

So although there is part of me that agrees with the statement that they have cheated and should not be allowed to compete again, I do think you will see fighters like Cyborg back as the UFC has not yet permanently banned anyone for taken any form of drug, performance enhancing or not.

 

[Carol]

But regarding cyborg, Rousey holds all the cards, and if cyborg wants to remain relevant, she will either cut to rousey's class (whether its healthy or not) or negotiate a catch weight match. Rousey doesn't need cyborg, but cyborg most definitely needs Rousey.

Realistically, do you think we'll ever see catch weight matches for women's UFC? That has been something I've wondered about since the fight between cyborg and Carano.

 

[Steve]

Realistically, do you think we'll ever see catch weight matches for women's UFC? That has been something I've wondered about since the fight between cyborg and Carano.

Not really. It's more likely with a pool as small as the women, but not in the UFC. Which really only hurts cyborg.


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