Kaitlin Young's New Found Fame

by scottish_rage on May 30, 2008 5:15 PM EDT

As we all know by now Gina Carano failed to make weight - or even come close. Some people saw this coming, while others were sure that she would make weight and have a great performance come Saturday evening. As many people have pointed out, this is a very unprofessional move by Gina and as she is the face of female MMA, she must have expected this backlash, and probably has lost some fans.

Here is what I don't understand: How has Kaitlin Young managed to gain so many new fans? Congratulations Kaitlin, you made weight. This is what fighters do, yet suddenly, since she is a woman, we celebrate her for successfully completing such a small part of this entire process. Granted, it is very hard to cut weight, but my point is that every other fighter on the card, minus the obvious exception, made weight and none of us are celebrating this fact. Had Kimbo failed to make weight and Thompson successfully done so, does anyone here actually think that Thompson would suddenly have more fans and be celebrated for coming in under weight? Of course not.

Many people who are suddenly huge Kaitlin Young fans have probably never even seen the girl fight. Simply because she is a woman who is going about this fight in the right way she is celebrated. Every fighter on this card is taking their fights very seriously, and yes, I believe this does include Gina Carano. Both of these women are competitors and both should be celebrated for stepping into the cage Saturday night to give it their all. This can be said about every athlete on the card. Let's let the performance that Kaitlin Young puts forward on Saturday night be what gives her notoriety and a new fan base. Not the fact that her opponent failed to make weight and that she did. Placing the emphasis on the fight itself should be no problem for either of these women. I believe that both will come in ready to go and put on a great performance for the fans. Let's talk about what could have been done differently after that, shall we?

The FanPosts are solely the subjective opinions of Bloody Elbow readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bloody Elbow editors or staff.

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People around this site at least...

...have seen Young’s fights since we posted 2 or 3 over a month ago.

Let’s talk about what could have been done differently after that, shall we?

I disagree. A fighter not making weight is a very big deal. Regardless of the performance she gives come fight night she has failed in one of her main responsibilities…not making weight is a slap in the face of the organization, her opponent and the fans.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work." -- Thomas Edison

by Brent Brookhouse on May 30, 2008 9:25 PM EDT reply actions

Very good points. I definitely agree that not making weight is a big deal and, as I mentioned, Gina should expect a backlash and it is very well deserved. The point of my article was not to say that what Gina did was ok, but more to question why so many people are celebrating the fact that Kaitlin Young was able to make weight. Making weight is something that is often overlooked by fans since so many fighters make it look so easy. Just because Young’s opponent failed to do so does not mean to me that Kaitlin Young should be celebrated for doing something that every other fighter on the card, besides Carano, was able to do. My point was that if a male fighter had failed to make weight we all would not be celebrating his opponent for doing so. We would simply point out and question the male fighter who did not make weight.

by scottish_rage on May 30, 2008 9:41 PM EDT up reply actions

I agree...

that if you don’t know Kaitlin I find it odd to be a “fan” of hers now. I could see how fans may have decided to “root” for her. But without watching someone fight it is hard to be a “fan” of theirs.

Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.

"The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls and looking like hard work." -- Thomas Edison

by Brent Brookhouse on May 30, 2008 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Even going back to your point about how many of this site’s informed readers have seen a majority of her fights, it seems that many readers now have all of a sudden taken an even bigger liking to her since Gina did not make weight and Kaitlin did. My point is that I believe it is ok to lose some respect for Gina during this process, but why are we all of a sudden praising Kaitlin? The snapshot of the day on this site is Kaitlin on the scale with a caption that reads something like “this is how a fighter looks when they take weigh-ins and fights seriously.” All but one of the fighters has done this and when Travis Lutter failed to make weight it was him that was taking criticism, not Anderson Silva receiving pats on the back and new fans.

by scottish_rage on May 30, 2008 10:33 PM EDT up reply actions

I will be putting money on Young

by James Clark on May 31, 2008 1:43 PM EDT reply actions

Ouch. Sorry about that. I have a hard time understanding putting money on the smaller fighter. Not making weight doesn’t make you less dangerous, it makes you bigger and potentially stronger.

I haven’t heard this point raised, but: there’s a good chance that Gina realized that she could make the cut but that she was already pretty strained and would be jeopardizing her chance of winning the fight by cutting more. Losing 12.5% of her purse while avoiding a truly painful weight cut and being more likely win sounds like a smart move to me.

Don't believe a word I say, I don't train BJJ.

by jemaleddin on Jun 1, 2008 8:59 AM EDT up reply actions