Can a Female Fighter Make It on Skill Alone?

I like photos of sexy women and I like MMA, and the combination has a kind of “don’t get your chocolate in my peanut butter” quality

I’m gonna try to think of some jokes off this one.

Nate, I’m keeping my eye on you. >:P

When we ogle this photo of Erin Toughill are we disrespecting her as an athlete?

Here, I think, is one of the more interesting questions. I would argue “No” but IF and ONLY IF we also grant her credibility FOR HER MERITS AS AN ATHLETE. To paraphrase my thoughts on GG, the problem is that we make it very difficult for female athletes to exist in both spaces (or even solely the athletic space). Maybe less so for the hardcore fans, but every promotional push of a female fighter outside the base willingly engages a (primarily male) audience that is all to happy to reduce the persons value as being the object of their desire. That speaks to a systematic problem.

I expect people to bring up Cyborg as the example of a woman more known for her skills than her pretty face, but she also wasn’t widely accepted by the fanbase until she both destroyed Carano and feminized herself. Everyone enjoyed “Cyborg is a man!” jokes until she prettied herself, then it became bannable offense. Yes, winning played a large role in her acceptance, but had she forgone the dresses and cosmetics, I doubt she would as be liked.

And I have no problem eating them together.

Mmmm…

Feel free to come on over to my site and read all of my thoughts : )

http://www.galsguidetomma.com/2010/2/24/1324931/sarah-kaufman-you-wont-find-any

We always wondered what it’d be like if the hot chicks got into it. That’s why everyone is interested when the chicks that can rock a bikini throw down.

What led me to ask the question is that you see fighters like LaTasha Marzolla and Miesha Tate getting more attention than Kaufman, when she’s beaten Tate and Marzolla has all of two career bouts.

In almost every issue of every MMA magazine, we have these pinup pictures of females – fighters, ring girls, whatever – and they’re in there at least in part because of how they look in short shorts and an open jacket held over their breasts.

Then there is Kaufman. All she’s done is beat everyone who has ever been put in front of her and climb into the Top 5 for female fighters, yet up until a day ago, this title fight wasn’t headlining the card, and few people know who she is.

I understand why it happens, but that doesn’t mean that we should be happy about it. Promote the athletes who excel, not just the ones who are ready and willing to pose in their panties.

I suppose the “elephant in the room” here is that because female MMA is typically viewed as less skilled than “regular” MMA, then no, a female fighter cannot make it on skill alone. I think there’s a small bit of truth to that (keep in mind this is different from saying that these woman are not skilled, which is obviously bullshit). Similar to the WNBA, would anyone argue that the athletes there are as skilled as anyone in the NBA? Of course not. Disregarding the physical differences that men tend to be bigger, faster, and stronger, there’s also the obvious problem with female MMA which is that the talent pool is so incredibly shallow. Observers feel like they’re watching an inferior product because generally, they ARE.

MMA is a bit different because unlike other professional female sports, the women aren’t trying to catch up with decades of sports competition. Hell, Marloes Coenan throws a better right hand and with better technique than Nate Quarry and Shinya Aoki combined. That this isn’t an exaggeration says a lot of about the sport of MMA in general.

For women in particular, there’s also the general stigma of being defined by looks. Men have a rich history of being appreciated as writers, moneymakers, artists, scientists, athletes, and a gamut of social roles in general. Women don’t have a comparable history within these roles, so for women to be appreciated by anything other than how they look will always be an uphill battle regardless.

Oddly enough, call me crazy, but Kaufman’s kind of cute.

Gina and Erin have both. If they aren’t skilled, people wouldn’t take them seriously.

If their looks outweigh their talent and skill, whats the issue?

Hot girls will always get me interested in anything they do. And as far as Cyborg goes I would like to see her fight men.