The Ultimate Fighting Championship is currently facing a significant lull in its women’s divisions, prompting some critics and fans on social media to suggest the organization should eliminate women’s mixed martial arts entirely. Despite high-profile matchups like the upcoming bout between Virna Jandiroba and Tatiana Suarez, women’s fights are rarely receiving main event treatment or generating massive fan engagement.
The Business Reality and Historical Significance
In the past three years, only one numbered card has been headlined by women, with UFC 332 last month serving as a rare exception. While some pundits and fans criticized that event beforehand, it ultimately delivered a record-breaking 11 knockouts, though the main event between Natalia Silva and Cong Wang felt uninspiring to sports.yahoo.com author. While the business rationale behind downgrading women’s fights is understandable given current popularity levels, abandoning women’s divisions completely would be a foolish mistake.
History proves that women can attract substantial audiences to the sport. Before Conor McGregor rose to dominance, Ronda Rousey was one of the organization’s biggest stars. Rousey was a generational talent who captured mainstream attention in a unique way, alongside pioneers like Gina Carano, who paved the way for female fighters in mainstream media. Even though current top female stars like Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes do not draw viewers in droves, women’s MMA still maintains a dedicated audience. Eliminating the divisions would simply allow rival promotions like the PFL to scoop up the talent, while also triggering a severe public relations nightmare for the UFC.
Building Stars Through Personality and Authenticity
Since the women’s divisions are here to stay, the organization and its fighters must find ways to build mainstream interest. Rousey’s massive success was driven not only by her dominant winning streak—where she finished almost all her opponents in the first round before Holly Holm ended her run—but also by her genuine attitude and willingness to speak her mind. Her authentic hostility toward opponents made people care deeply about the outcomes of her fights, whether they wanted to see her win or lose.
Fighters can also draw attention through other avenues, such as embracing sex appeal to attract viewers before letting their skills maintain that interest, much like Carano did early on. Alternatively, fighters can follow the blueprint of personalities like Chael Sonnen, Colby Covington, or Josh Hokit, using trash talk and villainous personas to capture the spotlight and draw viewers who tune in hoping to see them lose. While pushing outside of personal comfort zones may be difficult for many fighters, breaking the mold is necessary because growth requires change, and women’s MMA needs new strategies to separate itself from the current stagnation.
