With our beloved Strikeforce champion Ronda Rousey now the official first ever UFC women’s champion and set to make her debut for Dana White’s dominant promotion on Feb. 26, more and more females are trying their hands at Mixed Martial Arts. Of course, this doesn’t come without its fair share of criticism and vitriol from fighting purists, as some people might view women fighters as boring compared to the men. And it doesn’t help that White admitted that there wouldn’t even be a women’s division in the UFC if it weren’t for Rousey being such a badass.
“No other (female) fighters have what Rousey has,” he said. “She’s nasty. She’s mean. She’d actually fight a dude if that’s what it took to get in the UFC. She’d do it. … I’ve seen a lot of tough girls, but I haven’t seen a girl with the whole package until I met her.”
Thanks to that nastiness and meanness, progress is being made and new female fighters are trying their hands and feet at ass-kicking in smaller promotions across the country. Among them is perhaps the greatest example that fighters like Rousey and Gina Carano before her have made a huge impact in reaching across typical boundaries of stereotypes and social expectations.
Rachel Wray – not the TV personality, but it would be so much cooler if she was – is a former Kansas City Chiefs cheerleader who made her MMA debut for Blue Corner in Kansas City in September. Wait, why on Earth would an NFL cheerleader want to give that up to potentially get her ass kicked?
