FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : Roundtables ROUNDTABLE (pt. 1 of 3): Should UFC add a Women's Division as Strikeforce has done? Penick, Perez, DeBar, Hyden, Rowland, Matthew

Feb 25, 2010 - 2:23:02 PM

SAM MATTHEW, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I think once there are more female fighters out there, then yes, definitely the UFC should add women’s divisions. Right now the pool is just not deep enough, especially considering that the face of female fighting, Gina Carano, may turn to acting and never fight again after a tough loss to "Cyborg" Santos. The ladies always make for exciting, non-stop action fights, so the UFC would do well to market this genre.

ANWAR PEREZ, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

The UFC should not add a women's division. This is still a relatively new idea for most and if the UFC tried going that route, it would not work out well. First problem is that the top two female fighters are attached to another promotion. It's kind of hard to start a relatively new concept of women fighting MMA, and you don't have their best fighters fighting for you. Cyborg is clearing out people in the division left and right, and Gina Carrano is doing wonders for the sport outside of the cage, but until this is something that becomes more refined, I don't see the need to add a women's division to the UFC. It would seem like a ploy to get more buys or ratings, and seen as a business move for profit, as opposed to growth for the sport.

CORY DEBAR, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

No, my belief is the talent pool in this division would be too shallow.

FRANK HYDEN, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

Absolutely, they should. The only people who wouldn't want to see a Women's Division in the UFC are those who are squeamish about seeing women fight. I personally don't see what the problem is. You have no problem watching men fight each other, but somehow women fighting is a bad thing? I believe in total equality. I believe that extends to all areas. If the women can fight, they should be allowed to. I'm only interested in watching good fights. Whoever can fight well should be allowed to. This isn't the 1950s. I would hope that such outdated ideals would have been tossed aside by now.

GREG ROWLAND, MMATORCH AUDIO COHOST

I don't really want to see a Women's Division in the UFC. It's Strikeforce's thing and it's part of what gives them their own flavor. As far as I know, women's MMA is still not a very deep pool yet, so two major organizations putting on fights mean we'll be seeing some poor quality fighters in there.

JAMIE PENICK, MMATORCH EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

There aren't enough top flight women's fighters available for the UFC to add a Women's Division at this point. Strikeforce has many of the bigger names that are in women's MMA, and they've got women's tourneys planned for 135 lbs. and 145 lbs. At this point it just doesn't make sense for them to put anything together when there aren't enough parts there to make it a successful endeavor.

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