Īnother form of rule differentiation is a change in both weight limits and weight classification. Strikeforce later changed this rule to allow for five-minute rounds. These lengths compare to the more usual five minutes for men. In the United States, women's bouts organised by EliteXC saw three-minute rounds while those of Strikeforce were originally of two minutes' duration. This rule remained following ReMix's 2001 re-branding as Smackgirl, though the time limit was extended to 30 seconds. In Japan, ReMix prohibited ground-and-pound and featured a 20-second time limit for ground fighting. The traditional MMA rules have often been adjusted for female competitions because of safety concerns.
ONE Championship is the leading MMA promotion in Asia and hosts many female professional mixed martial arts bouts. South Africa's Danella Eliasov defeated Zita Varju ( Hungary) by first round submission. However, in Europe some major organizations have held select female competitions, including It's Showtime, Shooto Europe, Cage Warriors, and M-1 Global.Īfrica's first female professional mixed martial arts bout was held in Johannesburg, South Africa in 2015. Outside Japan and the United States, female competition is almost exclusively found in minor local promotions. However, Dana White warmed up to the idea of including women in the UFC and solely credits Ronda Rousey as the reason women are fighting in the UFC. He has said, "There is not enough depth to create a women's division." The next step was for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to pick up women's MMA, however UFC President Dana White was resistant. įollowing Zuffa's acquisition of Strikeforce in March 2011, there has been much speculation concerning the future of women's competition, in term both of relevance and popularity. From the mid-2000s, more coverage came when organizations such as Strikeforce, EliteXC, Bellator Fighting Championships, and Shark Fights invited women to compete. This was soon followed by an IFC four women tournament sanctioned by the Louisiana Boxing and Wrestling Commission on Septemin Baton Rouge. The first recorded US female competition was at an IFC 4 on March 28, 1997. 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. 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. Other early successful Japanese female organizations included Ladies Legend Pro-Wrestling, ReMix (a predecessor to Smackgirl), U-Top Tournament, K-Grace, and AX. Influenced by female professional wrestling and kickboxing, the Smackgirl competition was formed in 2001 and became the only major all-female promotion in mixed martial arts. In Japan, female competition has been documented since the mid-1990s. Rousey won the Best Fighter ESPY Award at the 2015 ESPN ESPY award's, beating out noted fighters such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., and becoming the first UFC and MMA fighter to win the award. The UFC's decision to allow female fighters in the organization, to promote the dominant fighter Ronda Rousey, is often cited as the reason women's mixed martial arts became known to the general public.
This was furthered by her appearances on MGM Television's 2008 revival of their game show American Gladiators. Carano became known as "the face of women's MMA" after appearing in a number of EliteXC events. There has been a growing awareness of women in mixed martial arts due to popular female fighters and personalities such as Amanda Nunes, Megumi Fujii, Gina Carano, Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate, Holly Holm and Joanna Jędrzejczyk and among others. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Strikeforce and EliteXC. Professional mixed martial arts organizations in the United States that invite women to compete are industry leader Ultimate Fighting Championship, the all female Invicta Fighting Championships, Resurrection Fighting Alliance, Bellator Fighting Championships, and Legacy Fighting Championship. Now defunct promotions that featured female fighters were Valkyrie, and Smackgirl. For instance, Female competition in Japan includes promotions such as DEEP Jewels. While mixed martial arts is primarily a male dominated sport, it does have female athletes. Overview of Women's mixed martial arts Women's mixed martial arts