FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : Roundtables ROUNDTABLE (pt. 3 of 3): Should UFC add a Women's Division as Strikeforce has done? Keller, Teal, O'Donnell, Schwartzbard, Carter

Feb 27, 2010 - 12:29:10 PM

BOB TEAL, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I like watching the ladies slug it out, but at this point I do not think the UFC should consider a Women’s Division. The reason is because you do not have enough fighters in any one weight division to make things competitive. I think the talent pool needs to be deepened to the point that you have multiple weight classes filled with skilled fighters who put on exciting fights. At this point, there is just not enough talent out there. But I do think one day we will see it happen.

ADAM SCHWARTZBARD, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I like women's MMA, but I think the UFC missed the boat on that one, and they would be too far behind to catch up now. I also think that by Strikeforce having a commodity that the UFC does not have, it helps to give Strikeforce an advantage in one area over the UFC.

ALVIN BENJAMIN CARTER III, MMATORCH COLUMNIST

I think this would be a great idea if the division starts of with a strong number of competitors. There should be enough competitors so that an exciting main card women's fight does not have to be for a title. An amazing way to start this is by doing an Ultimate Fighter season with women.

ANDREW O'DONNELL, MMATORCH SPECIALIST

I read a Grappling magazine interview asking Dana White if they'd add a women's division and it was a no. Not enough talent, not marketable, not at the same level. I can't see a Women's Division in the UFC. I'd be really surprised, but if they did women's fighting, they'd probably start with the most known like Cyborgn and Carano. They could create stars by doing the Ultimate Fighter with all women to develop the division. It'd be an interesting gamble so I'm 50/50 as of now on the topic.

WADE KELLER, SUPERVISING EDITOR

Not yet. I'd rather see WEC, perhaps, add a women's division first. UFC has so many compelling men's preliminary fights that don't make it to main PPV cards that they are obviously not in need of any type of new division. WEC, though, could perhaps benefit from having women fights on its shows to set it apart from UFC, but also give Zuffa the chance to create competition for Showtime in acquiring top female talent. But I don't feel all that strongly either way that WEC make that move. I think it'd good that Showtime has a women's division. If there ends up being a thriving indy circuit of great women's fights, it'll be worth UFC more strongly considering it in the future.

CLICK HERE to see a directory of the previous Roundtables on this subject. App users, just click on "OPINION" category at bottom of screen.

[Gina Carano art credit Cory Gould (c) MMATorch]

ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.