Mixed martial arts (MMA) is primarily a male-dominated sport, and it is difficult for female athletes to be recognized on the same level as the men. Only a small amount of the major professional MMA promoters in the United States invite women to compete for their organizations, but female fighters have recently gained attention for their powerful presence in the cage. Although female fighter Ronda Rousey has lead a big surge for women in mixed martial arts, she is constantly compared to the male fighters. Ronda Rousey doesn’t need to be compared to any man in order to appreciate her talent. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) President Dana White once said that women would “never fight in the UFC.” Four years later, he announced Ronda Rousey to be the first female fighter to be signed to the company. Since signing Rousey to a long-term contract, the UFC has promoted fifty-five female fighters in two separate divisions (Chiapetta, 1). Though other female fighters were headlining events on major television networks, White didn’t …show more content…
Although Rousey wouldn’t say that she would lose against a male fighter, she has said that she doesn’t want to fight a man due to the message it would convey. Rousey said that we shouldn’t celebrate a man hitting a woman, or vice versa, in any setting because it promotes the idea of domestic abuse (Rousey: Bad Idea to Fight a Man, 1). Ronda Rousey demands attention in and out of the cage, and her dominance in the sport has firmly established women in the male-dominated world of mixed martial arts. Comparing Rousey to male fighters takes an athlete that has had one of the most influential careers as a champion female fighter, and it brands her as being just “pretty good for a girl.” But this doesn’t define her extraordinary talent. Ronda Rousey stands on her own as a