State of Women's MMA

With promotions in Japan and the US, it would seem as if the female MMA world is splintered. In Japan, all the talent is in the lighter weight classes. (135 and below) The best women’s fighter in the world is the still relatively unknown and undefeated Megumi Fuji. In the US, this honor is bestowed on Gina Carano, whose good looks and charm makes her one of the most marketable commodities Strikeforce posses. Japan is ahead of the US in producing female talent and female based MMA shows. Unfortunately, the biggest promotion in the US, the UFC does not display any of this talent. Strikeforce has capitalized on their lack of interest by putting on fights in the 135 and 145 divisions. They hope to create more stars when they eventually put on a 135-pound tournament. To gain a full perspective of the current state of women’s MMA we have to look at the how female’s MMA is progressing (or not) in both the US and Japan.

Strikeforce: Two women sharing the top of the mountain, the others climbing
It is very interesting that two women share the top of the mountain in Strikeforce both for very different reasons. One spot is held by Cris ‘Cyborg’ Santos the current 145 champion. She beat the “face of women’s MMA” Gina Carano by TKO stoppage in the first round in August. Her aggressive style along with her propensity to throw an exorbitant amount of punches overwhelmed the under trained and overexposed Carano. Cyborg’s next fight will be this month in Miami against Dutch star Marloes Coenen for the 145 strap. While Cyborg is more talented than arguably anyone in the 145 division is, she does not have the marketability Carano possesses. She is not a fluent English speaker, which makes it difficult for her connect with any of the casual fans who do not know anything about her except she has a muscular, so-called intimidating physique.
Carano, who has been described as funny, sweet, humble and more importantly to the 18-34 demographic, hot, holds the other spot on the mountain. She however held a lot of responsibility on her shoulders before her fight with Cyborg. She was forced to do even more media than usual, which she admitted hindered her ability to train. This showed in the fight where she seemed content to just stand in front of Cyborg and hit repeatedly. She has taken time off from fighting to do movies, but Strikeforce does expect her to be back later this year. We will see if she rededicates herself to fighting and getting a win, unlike her movie star counterpart Cung Le.
Marloes Coenen, the newest addition to the Strikeforce 145 division is a Dutch fighter from the world-renowned camp, Golden Glory. She debuted stateside in November avenging her loss to Roxanne Modaferri with an armbar win. Coenen has fought exclusively overseas in various Dutch and Japanese promotions. She is well rounded and the best opponent Cyborg has faced in her career so far.
As mentioned above Strikeforce is going to put on a tournament in the 135 division to crown their new bantamweight champion. One of the front-runners is Kerry Vera, who fought on a recent Strikeforce: Challengers card against Kim Couture. Kim Couture, former wife of Captain America Randy Couture, was overmatched and showed up to get a paycheck. Kerry dominated her on the feet on and won via TKO stoppage in the first round. She is talented on the feet and an interesting prospect that could turn out to be the next star in women’s MMA. An interesting wild card could be Tara LaRosa, who has been fighting at her natural weight class, 125 for a bit. She has one of the best ground games in women’s MMA and would be a favorite to win the tournament.

UFC: Not doing any favors
The UFC plays a huge part in women’s MMA because they have not chose to put on any fights. Dana White has been quoted, as saying there is not enough talent or depth to put on consistent fights in the women’s division. Whether or not he is right, the UFC could help women’s MMA explode if they started highlighting their fights. Even putting these talented athletes on a Fight Night card would help the division gain more exposure than a Strikeforce: Challengers card could ever do.

Japan: The land of the forgotten
Megumi Fujii is considered the top ranked women’s MMA fighter in the world. She is undefeated and having trouble finding fights because of her prowess to just tap people at will. She has been fighting on and off in JEWEL and Shooto card’s for the past year. A trip stateside is unlikely with her weight being around 115, so she is stuck in MMA purgatory until promotions expands their wants to more than just two weight classes.