While mixed martial arts is primarily a male dominated sport, it does have female athletes. In Japan, female competition has been documented since the mid-1990s. In the United States, prior to the success of The Ultimate Fighter reality show that launched mixed martial arts into the mainstream media, there was little major coverage of female competitions.
Here's a look at the history of women in the UFC, from early pioneers to today's champions.
Early Competitions and Organizations
Some early organizations who invited women to compete included, International Fighting Championships, SuperBrawl, King of the Cage, Rage in the Cage, Ring of Combat, Bas Rutten Invitational, and HOOKnSHOOT. The first recorded American female competition was at an IFC 4 between Becky Levi and Betty Fagan on March 28, 1997. This was soon followed by an IFC four women tournament sanctioned by the Louisiana Boxing and Wrestling Commission on September 5, 1997 in Baton Rouge. In 2002, HOOKnSHOOT promoted an all women's card labeled ‘Revolution’. It was headlined by Debi Purcell and Christine Van Fleet.
At the end of 2000s in Mexico, Ultimate Warrior Challenge Mexico (UWC), the oldest company in that country, hosted on May 30, 2009 an event called UWC: Furia Cacharilla that marked the first time there was a female combat in Mexican MMA. Africa's first female professional mixed martial arts bout was held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2015.
Rule Modifications for Female Competitions
The traditional MMA rules have often been adjusted for female competitions because of safety concerns. In Japan, ReMix prohibited ground-and-pound and featured a 20-second time limit for ground fighting. This rule remained following ReMix's 2001 re-branding as Smackgirl, though the time limit was extended to 30 seconds. While men are required to wear a groin protector, women are forbidden from doing so.
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The Rise of Ronda Rousey and Women in UFC
The Rise and Fall of Ronda Rousey in MMA
Strikeforce became the first major promotion in the United States to have held a female fight as the main event on August 15, 2009. The next step was for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to pick up women's MMA, however UFC President Dana White was resistant. Ronda Rousey was a female fighter who sparked the popularity of women fighters. When she signed with the UFC in 2012, female fighting was not very popular and was not considered a sport for women.
Rousey was a different breed in not just women’s MMA, but in MMA as a whole. She was a talented, hard-working, and determined force of destruction on fight night, but also a striking, quotable and charismatic figure outside of competition. Add in her Olympic pedigree and compelling backstory, and White was intrigued, so much so that after Rousey’s Strikeforce bout with Miesha Tate was over, he seriously considered bringing the women’s bantamweight division to the UFC.
It was surprising to many people how charismatic and talented Rousey actually was. In addition to being an Olympic medalist, Rousey also won back-to-back Pan American Championship gold medals. Ronda Rousey became the first woman fighter signed to the UFC in November 2012, and was promoted to the division's bantamweight champion. Rousey was able to open many people's eyes and prove Dana White, the president of the UFC very wrong.
“Ronda is the real deal,” White said at the time. “She’s nasty. She’s mean. She’s like Chuck Liddell. She goes out there and tries to finish her opponents. Ronda Rousey was the face of UFC and the highest-paid fighter for a very long time.
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Expansion of Women's Divisions in UFC
On December 11, 2013 the UFC picked up the contracts of 11 female fighters to fill up their 115-pound division. This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. The Strawweights took part in the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter, the season winner will be the first UFC women's strawweight champion.
Soon after that historic night, the best female bantamweights in the world began fighting under the UFC banner, thrilling fans around the globe. In 2013, The Ultimate Fighter introduced women to the series, with Julianna Pena winning the season 18 title, and in 2014, the UFC brought in a second women’s division, with the 115-pound strawweights being featured on season 20 of TUF. Carla Esparza Became First Strawweight Champion.
Meanwhile, a Polish powerhouse named Joanna Jedrzejczyk introduced herself with a stirring second-round knockout of Esparza that earned her the UFC women’s strawweight title. Fight fans immediately embraced “Joanna Champion,” who successfully defended her title with wins over Jessica Penne and Valerie Letourneau, the latter win coming at the historic UFC 193 event in Melbourne, Australia, which was headlined by Rousey’s title defense against Holly Holm and the Jedrzejczyk-Letourneau bout. Why so historic?
And while the bantamweights and strawweights thrilled UFC fans, the 135 and 115-pounders made way for the featherweights in 2017, with Germaine de Randamie winning the first 145-pound title by defeating Holm at UFC 208. Later that year, The Ultimate Fighter’s 26th season introduced the fourth weight class to the ladies’ ranks with the 125-pound flyweight division.
Shevchenko isn’t the only international superstar on the women’s side of the sport, though, as Zhang Weili became the UFC’s first champion from China when she defeated Andrade for the strawweight crown in 2019, and later engaged in one of the best fights ever seen in the Octagon with Jedrzejczyk, and no one will forget the accomplishments of Brazil’s Nunes, the first female double-champ in UFC history and the current queen of the featherweight and bantamweight divisions.
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Wage Inequality in Women's MMA
Mixed martial arts (MMA) fights have become increasingly popular among women. Women fighters needed to be represented and marketed with more equality for a while. The average pay for women at the time was $15,000, compared to men's $38,000 per fight, which led to a lot of women being frustrated with their pay. Paige VanZant who is an MMA fighter spoke out about wage inequality in 2019 and said she wanted more money to "keep bleeding and sacrificing for this sport".
US women's soccer players took legal action over the fact that their pay is significantly lower than men's. During the UFC 241 event, the highest-paid man earned $700,000, while the highest-paid female fighter earned $30,000 according to FINCHANNEL statistics. The top female earner in 2020 was Amanda Nunes, who earned $350,000 plus $100,000 if she won the fight. Conor McGregor is thought to have gotten about $3 million for each of his most recent fights. Another male MMA fighter, Alistair Overeem has recently been paid $800,000 for each match he has.
Dana White, who is the president of the UFC stated that he would never allow women to compete in his organization. Although, after observing how many viewers are watching women's fights, he has since acknowledged that female athletes are "very good." Women are requesting more money from the UFC as more viewers start to watch women's fights. Female MMA fighters' earning potential has grown as they gain popularity and recognition.
| Fighter Name | Gender | Earnings (UFC 241) | Earnings (2020, if applicable) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest Paid Male | Male | $700,000 | - |
| Highest Paid Female | Female | $30,000 | - |
| Amanda Nunes | Female | - | $350,000 + $100,000 (win bonus) |
| Conor McGregor | Male | - | ~$3,000,000 per fight |
| Alistair Overeem | Male | - | $800,000 per match |