Wednesday, March 19, 2008

What Ever Happened to Women's MMA?

Nothing gets fans going like two skilled female competitors giving their all in the ring. Really. The crowd went wild when Laura D'Auguste beat on Shannon Logan at Reality Fighting 2, and when D'Auguste defeated Del Greer at RF 3 they went beserk. The highlight of MFC 6 was Tara LaRosa's war with Roxanne Modafferi, and it was a pretty big deal when LaRosa submitted Kelly Kobold last year to become the number one 135-pounder in the world. Even EliteXC jumped on the train, fielding mid-level fighter Gina Carano and feeding her cans. Well, it's now almost spring of 2008, and the question arises: what ever happened to women's MMA? The collapse of BodogFIGHT - the last major MMA player to truly give a shit about who is the best female fighter - is what happened. Sure, BodogFIGHT is still skulking around in some form, but pairing LaRosa up with someone not even remotely at her level on a co-promoted HOOKnSHOOT show pales in comparison to the top talent that fought in Costa Rica and St. Petersburg. Amanda Buckner, Shayna Baszler, Carina Damm, Rosi Sexton - BodogFIGHT let the world see just how exciting and badass top female fighters are, and it's a damn shame they're all being squandered.