Female fighters get TUF
I like The Ultimate Fighter, especially when the frat house crap is kept to a minimum. And I loved Fight Girls, the Vegas-set reality series about aspiring female Muay Thai fighters that aired on the Oxygen network. So it’s a no-brainer that I’ll be tuning into Ultimate Women Challenge when it starts airing in syndication next January.
Bas Rutten and supermodel Joanna Krupa will host the show and MMA standouts like Tara LaRosa, Cesar Gracie, Rosi Sexton and Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos will act as coaches.
As for the competitors, the most recognizable names on the list are Julie Kedzie and Felice Herrig. The 26-year-old Kedzie (10-8) has fought the likes of LaRosa, Shayna Baszler and Gina Carano. Herrig (0-2) was one of the cast members of Fight Girls. Also on the roster are Lisa Higo, Alexis Davis, Patricia Hall, Angela Magana, Angela Hayes, Melissa Steele, Heather Clark, Christy Tada, Lacy Shuckman, Jessica Aguilar, Martha Benavides, Casey Noland and Michelle Vera, the sister of UFC light heavyweight Brandon Vera.
Bad title aside (even UWC is a mouthful of marbles), the concept – a women’s MMA reality show – is golden. As long as it stays away from sorority house antics and focuses on these women as serious fighters and not Gina Carano/Maxim model wannabes. As titillating as it might be to watch a bunch of women living together like it’s a giant Porky’s-style sleepover, it would be a huge step backwards for female fighters and for the sport in general. Then again, you look at the photos above (that’s Herrig on the left, Kedzie on the right) and I’m not sure how this show could not be titillating.
2 comments
First off Gina Carano is not no wannabe nothing! She’s a fighter that trains and has true heart along with alot of fans that do not think she’s a wannabe. So saying that she is just because shes done some photo shoots and interviews is so unnecessary and such ignorants behind it as well. Just because someone has recgonition in a sport and are choosen to be in photo shoot does not mean they are wannabes!!!!!
I didn’t say Carano was a wannabe, I said the fighters are Carano wannabes. Actually, Carano/Maxim model wannabes, bu which I mean they are in it to be famous, not fighters. And while I love Carano (look around the site for my numerous gratuitous Carano posts), it is sometimes difficult to take her seriously as a fighter because of her public image. I don’t blame her for capitalizing on what God gave her, although I know lot of professional female fighters have been very critical of the way she has marketed herself.
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