Part of the fun of the UFC’s new women’s division was that, aside from praying that someone would ever stand a chance against Ronda Rousey, the new female fighters were all hungry to prove that they belong. That’s why most UFC fans were pleasantly surprised when Cat Zingano’s win over Miesha Tate at the Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale was not only intense and entertaining, but possibly the best fight that we watched that night.

And for her efforts, Zingano was named the No. 1 contender to Rousey’s UFC Women’s Championship and, therefore, she was declared the second coach on the next season of TUF, which will be the first to feature female fighters. In all, this has been everything that Dana White and the UFC could have asked for in building momentum to a women’s division that the sport’s predominantly male fans who might not take it seriously.

So of course it had to hit a snag.

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Prior to Saturday’s UFC 157 pay-per-view, I worried that if Ronda Rousey pulled off a huge victory over Liz Carmouche in the first ever UFC women’s match, the countdown to the women’s division becoming a novelty could suddenly speed up like a bomb clock in a bad spy movie. Instead, it seems that most people – at least those not shouting, “BOOBY!” during one key moment – were rather pleased with Rousey’s first round submission victory and Carmouche’s potential.

At the very least, it prompted the UFC to sign four more female fighters, but we don’t care about them right now, because they’re not the women running their mouths. That distinction belongs to Miesha Tate and Cat Zingano, who will face each other on April 13 at the Ultimate Fighter 17 Finale in Las Vegas. Maybe they’re just upset about Rousey getting all the attention, but these ladies just weren’t impressed.

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