Full article: Is It Too Late For the UFC to Get Serious About the Women's Featherweight Division?
Is It Too Late For the UFC to Get Serious About the Women's Featherweight Division?
- Thread starter Drake
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Full article: Is It Too Late For the UFC to Get Serious About the Women's Featherweight Division?
Yeah. Really just super weird. UFC should have just let Bellator have that one. Flyweight...no. But they're late on that one too.
This division was made to fill the hole left by Ronda. With all hopes on Cybrog, who refused her first 145 fight with Holm, she did not do the division any favors. It got the false start from the get go because she wasn't able to get to that weight to begin with. It's hard to get behind something like that, as a fan, but probably also as a promotion or fighter. It seems like this division is on thin ice...
Good point. I still think they should have just fucking waited for Cyborg. Sure, her not accepting was no bueno but they didn't HAVE to start without her.
I think that they should have never done it. One fighter is simpy not enough.
Who did they have at bantamweight when they had Rousey vs Carmouche? It sure as fuck wasn't a stacked division.
They have Cyborg, a dominate champion. Girls at 135 will be tempted up to be the one who stops her. Zingano and Holms have already hinted at making the jump.
I agree more with Emp here. Sure, the division isn't the best but if they would have snatched up as many fighters along with Cyborg as possible, things would look 1000x better with a potentially much brighter future.Who did they have at bantamweight when they had Rousey vs Carmouche? It sure as fuck wasn't a stacked division.
They have Cyborg, a dominate champion. Girls at 135 will be tempted up to be the one who stops her. Zingano and Holms have already hinted at making the jump.
I sure appreciate your optimism. But we've already got fighters leaving the division, we've got a different managment in charge, and Cybrog is not Ronda, meaning, she does not possess the kind of mainsteam appeal that boosted that division into existence. It will be interesting to see if Cyborg will be able to hold this division like Ronda did, without getting popped (given her history), without missing weight (given her history) long enough so new talent can settle and make name in one shape or form. MMA was on a steep climb when the other women's divisions came about, I'm not certain if that is still the case.Who did they have at bantamweight when they had Rousey vs Carmouche? It sure as fuck wasn't a stacked division.
They have Cyborg, a dominate champion. Girls at 135 will be tempted up to be the one who stops her. Zingano and Holms have already hinted at making the jump.
Another note is, this division is going to have a lot of competition with countelss of new weight classes, more watered down cards, more champs, etc. add a lot less value to an MMA fight. It's easy to miss a fight, to skip an event here and there, and people will make a choice. I'm just assuming by the way, that building a division is now much harder, especially with an initially non-committing champ at the reigns.
Obviously they did not have the problems they have now with FW. So I would say, they had a lot more fighters than just Carmouche and Rousy. I'd say, talent was pouring in, which cannot be said right now.
Using a rainbow because that is truly a glass half full, optimistic statement lol.
If they can bring in some female fighters why can't the division work? But right now it's Cyborg and.....
They should abandon it and start a womens 105. The girls there are much, much, much more marketable.
Perhaps. But AW isn't much deeper than WFW.
I have to disagree with you here. Rizin is about to have an AW tournament and in Invicta has a good AW division in place. Also, unlike FW, I can name more than 2 women who should naturally fight in that class.
Fair enough. Forgot about that tourney despite seeing the news recently....whoops, lol
C
Ceiling Fan
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Yeah, I think it is. They can't start a division which has less than 50 fighters worldwide fighting in it. Even if they hope to lure some big 135ers out, it's not enough to build a division. A division needs at least 20 fighters in it to be remotely interesting. Otherwise we don't get good matchups and we get horribly undeserved title fights.
These rankings say it all.
The Current Best Women's Featherweights | 145 lbs. | Tapology MMA Rankings
A division where a fighter that was 3-4 LAST YEAR is the 7th ranked WFW in the world, that's a huge problem for me.
These rankings say it all.
The Current Best Women's Featherweights | 145 lbs. | Tapology MMA Rankings
A division where a fighter that was 3-4 LAST YEAR is the 7th ranked WFW in the world, that's a huge problem for me.
C
Ceiling Fan
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My biggest problem with the division is this - what happens if Anderson get smoked, just like the rest of them? That's it for the division. There's no one else. Holly Holm? Good luck with that, she wants to retire soon and start a family. GDR? Don't make me laugh. It's a division, to me, that was almost harmed by having such a dominant fighter at the top.Wait...those aren't my rankings, bud...?
But yeah, you're right.
Bellator has 13 WFWs signed right now, so either the UFC needs to steal that division or sell it to Bellator and let them run with it. It's too shallow to run two of them at the same time in two different orgs. That's not even counting Invicta, and whatever they have left.
Yeah... GDR pretty much can't go back now. Unless she doesn't care about making her cowardice that much more obvious. Time will tell I guess. Great point. It's kind of like the DJ effect on Flyweight too. Even though Fly is obviously a much better division overall.
Doubt Bellator would give it to them. That would be really nice though. I think Budd could give Cyborg trouble...especially after seeing that Evinger could get her down. The rest would just make for feeling out the division. You definitely can't have them all spread out. They need to all be under the same roof. Best case scenario would be for the UFC to somehow snatch up Invicta & Bellator's FWs. I think it would be most realistic for UFC to bail on it & let everyone go to Bellator though.
C
Ceiling Fan
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I'm a bit of a hardliner when it comes to orgs and divisions. As an economist, I prefer open competition which will enhance the product on every side.
As a fight fan, however, I want one organization to rule them all. They'll have all the fighters, they'll be able to do all the matchups, and we won't ever have to wonder which fighter is better.
It's why I was actively rooting against Bellator in their big recent card, not because I'm a UFC shill or anything, but because I a) don't want to have to pay for multiple PPV events in a month, and 2) because I don't want to embolden them into taking a bigger share and luring other top fighters away. I don't want to wonder whether Bellator's WW division could stand up with the UFC's. I want them to be able to fight each other, and with this, they can't.
Growing up, I always hated the boxing model (and even the WCW vs the WWF to an extent) because I'd never really get to know who would beat who since they couldn't compete against each other.
Best case scenario for the fighters at WFW is to have them all or most of them in one single org, and not split into three houses. Bellator has 13, Invicta has 8, and UFC has 2 (plus two plus a few stragglers). Put them all together and we have a ballgame. Split them and we have a mess.
Agreed. That monopolies can in some instances benefit consumers is well understood in economics, so that's really not a contradictory position.
They had already tried to lure women in with the promise of a shot at the belt (Holly/GDR), and even they do not wish to stay and fight above their natural class. I cannot blame them. They should have approach natural 145ers and built from there, not start with women from a lower weightclass. It's simply not a valid division for in the UFC right now, it should be scrapped. Plenty of weight classes are coming.
