The UFC is world’s leading MMA promotion. Furthermore, it saw it’s first ever superstar in Ronda Rousey, after relenting and opening up a women’s division despite previous claims that UFC would not be featuring women.
When Amanda Nunes announced her retirement during UFC 289, fans saw perhaps the greatest competitor in women’s MMA history leave the sport. With victories against some of the best names in the sport at bantamweight and featherweight including a number of past champions, Nunes retired as a two-division champion. UFC soon announced it would likely be scrapping women’s featherweight division (145lbs).
Recently, Sean O’Malley engaged in a conversation on his YouTube channel about the controversial perspective of a current UFC champion regarding women’s MMA. O’Malley made predictions on how an all-women’s division of MMA’s top company could do, not with the intention of implying that women shouldn’t be participating in the UFC.
The discussion emerged after referring to a 2020 tweet from UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev, who stated that MMA “is not a woman’s sport.”
O’Malley posed thought-provoking questions: “What if there was a WUFC? Women’s UFC? What if they had their own – would it last? Would they be able to sell pay-per views? Would they be able to sell out arenas? I’m just asking…It’s still the UFC, it’s still Dana, it’s still the UFC pushing these fights, promoting them. Would it last?”
Recalling the early days of the UFC, it is worth noting that the organization’s president Dana White initially declared that women would never compete in the UFC.
But the rise of trailblazers like Ronda Rousey compelled a change in perspective. Additionally, competitors like Amanda Nunes are indicative of how far women’s MMA has advanced over a very short amount of time.
Looking ahead, Sean O’Malley will compete for the bantamweight championship when he faces Aljamain Sterling in the main event of UFC 292. In the co-main event, Weili Zhang will defend her strawweight title against Amanda Lemos.
UFC is still very much aboard having women’s Bantamweight, strawweight and flyweight.