Monday, October 20, 2008

Female MMA Moving into the Spotlight?

gina carano, female mma, gina carano fight

It's a bit early to say, but I think the Gina Carano / Kelly Kobold fight may have finally been the event that has pushed female MMA into the spotlight.
The amount of articles referencing women in MMA has picked up considerably.
Here's just a couple of examples......

First, this article at MMA Funhouse by Michael David Smith....
Gina Carano's Toughest Fight: Getting Recognition for Women's MMA
Olympic gymnast Nastia Liukin was honored at the Women's Sports Foundation's annual Salute to Women in Sports on Tuesday night in New York City. So was softball player Jessica Mendoza. Dozens of female athletes from sports ranging from basketball to skateboarding were lauded from the podium.
And Gina Carano sat in the audience, wondering if her fellow athletes even know that her sport exists.
http://mma.fanhouse.com/2008/10/15/gina-caranos-toughest-fight-getting-recognition-for-womens-mm/

And this article at SFGate by Kelly Mills....
Women taking their place in kickboxing ring
At the Best of the Bay kickboxing event Aug. 16 in San Francisco, there were three women in the ring for one bout, and no one batted an eye. One of the women was the "ring girl," scantily dressed and wearing heels, who walked along the ropes with a sign signaling the round number. The two other women were fighters, dressed in traditional satin muay Thai shorts, tank tops and boxing gloves. As the bell went off, the ring girl teetered off the canvas, and the two fighters emerged from their corners, trading ferocious punches and kicks. The crowd cheered as one fighter landed a hard right cross, while the other threw a whiplike kick aimed at her rival's head. When the bell rang again, the two women returned to opposite sides of the ring, sweaty and slightly bloodied, awaiting coaching from their corners, as the ring girl picked up her sign.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/17/LV8P13GQHV.DTL

Sometimes it's difficult to even find anything on female MMA fighters, but now that seems to be changing.

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