Issue 022

February 2007

By Hywel Teague

Let's try a little exercise. Before reading past this introduction, I want you to ponder for a moment or two on the roles of women in mixed martial arts. Take a minute to think of the different ways in which women are involved, and then we’ll continue. Ready? Go. 

OK, you had a bit of help thanks to the illustration on this page. There are a couple of answers for you right away. Apart from ring girl or fighter, there aren’t many other roles in MMA that people associate women with. 

Before you think of this as just another ‘Hywel on his high horse’ rant where I systematically look to criticise an area of the industry I feel is sorely lacking in professionalism, credibility or basic morals, I want you to know that I am not about to start decrying anyone for forcing women into stereotypical roles or to lambast women for using their natural charms. Also, I’m not out to judge anyone here. For me to criticise a woman who wants to step in the ring, whether she is wearing gloves or high heels, would be ridiculous. We’re all equally capable of making our own decisions and defining our own career paths. 

Ring girls are part and parcel of MMA, an institution that almost everyone enjoys. From the elegant evening dress clad ladies who parade around the ring at dinner shows to the bikini clad hotties who gyrate and writhe for drunken crowds, if you go to an event you’re guaranteed to see at least one pretty lady in the ring between rounds. 

Mixed martial arts has always been renowned as a progressive sport, and one area where we have always excelled is the level of participation women have enjoyed in the sport. Unlike combative sports such as boxing, where there was huge reluctance by old school patrons to allow women to fight professionally, or even freestyle wrestling, which barred women from competing at an Olympic level until the Athens games, MMA has long been accepting of women fighters. 

Hook and Shoot was the first American promotion to host an all-female fight card, holding an event titled ‘Revolution’ in 2002, and female fights on MMA events are becoming more and more commonplace. Japan has always been the leader in female action though, hosting events way back into the late 90s. 

Certain mainstream events have picked up on the popularity of women’s fights, with events such as Bodog, Strikeforce and more all featuring ladies in the cage in more roles than one. As female MMA picks up the pace, we must be mindful that this hard work isn’t undone by objectifying the other women who are involved with the sport. 

Ring girls are all too often deemed mere eye candy, but we must remember that these women aren’t just pretty airheads who are doing it for fun. Whether they are models, dancers (of the exotic variety or otherwise) or just promotional workers, they are doing a job like anyone else and making money out of it. I hear many comments at ringside from men who instantly think that because a woman is wearing skimpy clothing in public, she is automatically ‘up for it’. Using your physicality as a way of making a living is nothing unusual - after all, isn’t that exactly what fighters are doing, albeit in a slightly different sense? 

That’s why we’ve chosen to highlight these women by instituting a new feature within the pages of this magazine. Our new Ladies of MMA section will highlight the beautiful, feminine women who are involved in this sport but on the other side of the coin. After all, we run interviews with fighters, why shouldn’t we feature people who step in and out of the ring or cage on a nightly basis, yet receive little to no recognition for it? With that in mind, we’ll feature women who fight and women who flaunt with no shame or worry that our morals are conflicting, as after