UFC 157 is now in the books and history was made as the
professional fighting company held its first female bout last night at the
Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The
fate of women’s mixed martial arts fell in the hands, or should I say fists, of
“Rowdy” Ronda Rousey as she was set to compete in the main event of the
evening. Rousey, who is considered the#1 pound-for-pound female fighter in the world,
has quickly become the marketing face of women’s MMA. She is young, attractive, and has graced the
cover of multiple magazines.
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| Image Courtesy of: RondaMMA.com |
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| Image Courtesy of: RondaMMA.com |
Two months ago, after previously stating women would never
have a place in the UFC, UFC President Dana White named Rousey as the first champion without even having to fight for it. She had an unbeaten professional record of 6-0
coming into last night’s fight, all by way of 1st round submission
with her now famous arm bar.
The opponent selected for her first fight is a rather
unknown fighter by the name of Liz Carmouche.
Carmouche is coming into the fight on a two loss-losing streak, and many
believe she was selected by the organization to lose to Rousey and help excel
the sport in the means of cash marketing opportunities. With that said, the future of the sport was
riding on Rousey winning this fight without complication, whereas Carmouche
comes into the fight with nothing to lose and everything to gain.
The uprising of Ronda Rousey has allowed the
UFC to reach a vast new audience and appeal to networks like ESPN, where they
may have not been able to before. We
have seen the rise of women and the benefits it can have in dollars to their
sport with individuals like Danica Patrick in NASCAR, however with a loss Rousey's credibility will be
damaged beyond repair, UFC fans will be let down, and worst of all, women's MMA
will lose the momentum Rousey helped to create.
It is so big that with a Rousey loss, we may never see a female main
event in the UFC ever again.
So it
began! Carmouche, a +700 underdog on most gambling sites, came out early and
had Rousey in a lot of trouble taking her back and attempting a choke. However,
Rousey was able to escape and take it to the ground where with only 11 seconds
left in the first round Rousey locked the arm bar and just like
the fight was over.
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| Image Courtesy of: http://www.BleacherReport.com |
You could almost
hear UFC President Dana White exhale for the first time in 5 minutes. His cash cow was victorious and the
organization gets to maintain the relevance of women’s professional fighting.
Liz
Carmouche tweets this following her loss:
Time
will tell how the development of women in the vicious sport of MMA will grow. I, along many others am looking forward to
seeing whom the UFC throws in the octagon with her next. Hopefully it’s somebody who can get past the
first round.
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