If you have been living under a rock for the past few years then you may have missed the blonde fury that is Ronda Rousey. The undefeated UFC women’s bantamweight champ is the new face of women’s mixed martial arts and this weekend she is bringing a host of friends. Not in the literal sense but in regards to WMMA the names that will grace the cages in the city of Angels are undeniable. She with Cat Zingano headline a historic weekend for the sport that includes the first pay per view in UFC history featuring a woman’s main and co main event at UFC 184. The night before Cris “Cyborg” Santos meets Canadian crusher Charmaine Tweet in an epic featherweight title showdown for Invicta FC. Holm, Pennington, Grasso, Inoue, Bennett and Aldana are all names that the rest of the mixed martial arts community will become familiar with after this weekend. With the amount of attention given to women’s combat sports in the past few years it’s fitting that the stars align in Hollywood for this all to take place. These women are all gorgeous, incredibly gifted and amazing fighters. So there is no better place for Los Angeles for all of them to display their star power. Expect a who’s who of female fighters to invade southern California this weekend and we can guarantees it will be two days we will never forget. See more…
One of the underlying stories that many have been following leading up to this weekend is the prospect of finally seeing a Rousey vs Cyborg match up. As a writer who has covered Invicta there has never been this much attention to open workouts or the arrival of the all-female promotion out of Kansas City We all know it’s because of the long awaited return to cage by Cyborg. What a push so far by the UFC to have she and Charmaine Tweet featured on their Fight Pass promotion that has even reached the Fox Sports 1 platform.
Clearly Zuffa is now behind the former Strikeforce Champion but if she is unable to ever reach the 135 weight division, where will the company go from here. Similar to the Mirko Cro Cop situation it’s possible they will have her sign an exclusive contract that keeps her entrenched in the Zuffa banner. In a sense she will be the reason why people continue to pay for Fight Pass and look for the Invicta promotion. This is not to take away anything from any of
the women on the roster as they are all truly stars, but the proof is in the pudding. When Cyborg shows up everyone pays attention. This move could keep her out of the hands of her friend Scott Coker in Bellator who has already lined up a 145 division for women. So if the best female talent is in that weight class is going to Bellator (Budd, Blencowe, and Coenen) then what is to keep Cyborg and even Charmaine Tweet happy in Invicta? vavel.com
That means it’s time to roll out the pre-fight “Embedded” video blog spotlighting the featured fighters for this weekend’s event, including UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey, along with undefeated division No. 1 contender Cat Zingano.