Photo Credit: Esther Lin / MMA Fighting
Saturday, Feb. 28, kuzoba usuku mlando Ultimate Fighting Championship. Zonke fighters ekhadini pay-per-umbono ngalolo suku ngeke kudlule pre-mpi zabo izidakamizwa ...... ingqondo .Masingalokothi. Lokho kulula kakhulu.
That day will be the first time a UFC card features women’s bouts in both its co-main event and main event. After middleweight champion Chris Weidman was forced to withdraw from his fight against Vitor Belfort due to injury, the new main event at UFC 184 is Ronda Rousey defending her women’s bantamweight belt against Cat Zingano. In the umcimbi co-main, much-heralded prospect Holly Holm will make her UFC debut against Raquel Pennington in another women’s bantamweight fight.
As I’ve mentioned before, UFC has come a long way from when Dana White told TMZ that women would “never” fight in his organization. Rousey will main event her third consecutive February PPV and Holm is widely believed to be the next in line for a shot at the title, should she defeat Pennington. Holm namanje raw kakhulu ubuciko okuxubile bokulwa, kodwa eqeqesha nezwe abaqeqeshi odumile Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn.
Rousey Siyanda ifulege for MMA besifazane futhi abesifazane ukuthi UFC. Ezenye fighters female baye balandela wakhe wangena Octagon, kuhlanganise Miesha Tate, Liz Carmouche and Alexis Davis. Yini labo ezintathu enifana? Bonke futhi wawela Rousey - Tate kabili Strikeforce and the UFC, futhi Carmouche futhi Davis kokubili emzuliswaneni wokuqala at UFC PPVs e 2013 futhi 2014, ngokulandelana.
Rousey futhi Tate sika umbango kahle yabonisa. It kwaholela abaqeqeshi ababili on The Ultimate Fighter, eyayihlanganisa fighters besifazane ngokokuqala ngqa ngubani outshined kakhulu nozakwabo besilisa on the show ukuthi isizini.
Njengoba sazi impumelelo ukuthi isikhathi sonyaka, isizini yamuva iningi The Ultimate Fighter iyavela BONKE fighters female kanye DEBUT of division the UFC olusha olwakhiwayo lwemikhumbi, strawweight yabesifazane. Carla Esparza, yangaphambili Invicta FC strawweight iqhawe, wawina UFC version mcimbi of ukuthi ibhande emva ukwehlula Rose Namajunas.
Ngakho span iminyaka emine, UFC isuka ekubeni akukho fighters female and White sigcizelele esibeka ukuthi asisoze, ekubeni ekhaya EZIMBILI female isisindo amakilasi futhi ngokungangabazeki star enkulu ekugqugquzeleni njengamanje e Rousey. Ningakholwa yimi? Ingabe ubona owesithathu Expendables movie? Noma ohlela ebona version ifilimu Entourage kuleli hlobo? Ungase uphawule othile engimaziyo.
Pho MMA yabesifazane hamba lapho kusuka lapha? I am uqobo a fan enkulu ukulwa female, as they tend to be among the more entertaining and action-packed fights on a UFC card. As I previously stated, female fighters are more than capable of outshining their male contemporaries. Why is that? Maybe female fighters feel they have more to prove inside the Octagon and always go for broke. Maybe they go into the Octagon with more of a “go for broke” mentality and actively seek a finish as opposed to “playing it safe.”
The fight between Rousey and Zingano on Feb. 28 will also go a long way toward determining the future of women’s MMA. Should Rousey defeat Zingano – which all signs indicate she will – she will have essentially cleaned out her division, with only unknown challengers like Holm and Bethe Correia left. If Zingano pulls the upset, then the division has a fresh batch of exciting matchups waiting.
But who knows what would have happened if Dana White kept his promise to TMZ?
Chris Huntemann ubhala kuxutshwe karate isimo Maryland. He also contributes his thoughts to our site on the UFC, Bellator, futhi World Series of Fighting. Hlola yakhe blog, ungamlandeleli on Twitter: mmamaryland.