ProphetFighting

Womens’ MMA match tears down the house…

In other news, hell has frozen over and cats and dogs are living together…

I don’t really enjoy women’s sports. Tennis is OK because Maria Sharapova is hot, but I don’t really enjoy tennis under any circumstances. Now I’m not some Neanderthal who thinks women should know their place and not play sports more traditionally played by men. In fact, I’m just the opposite–if a woman wants to do anything more power to her. Even if women want to box–which some people are a little more squeamish about–they’ve got my respect as a fighter, just like everyone else with the stones to enter the ring. Just don’t expect me to watch it and don’t give me some lame platitude about how women’s sports are more about “team” or how women athletes are “technically superior” to their male counterparts.

Ironically, my favorite sport–boxing–is the one I hate watching women compete in the most. Again, women who box have my respect and they have every right to do it. I just don’t like to watch it, not for some patriarchal notion that that women shouldn’t hit and be hit but because most of the womens boxing matches I’ve seen just aren’t very good. They’re either horribly one sided affairs (Laila Ali vs. some overmatched foe) or between two gnarly truck stop waitress-looking women with poor technique. Throw in the fact that most of the time women’s boxing is a “added attraction” on a PPV boxing card. For the uninitiated, “added attraction” is a boxing code phrase for “freak show” or “train wreck”. Whenever Butterbean fights on a card its an “added attraction”. If any state athletic commission would allow a boxing match between a human and a kangaroo, it would be billed as an “added attraction”. I’d go so far as to suggest that I’d rather watch Butterbean fight than watch the average women’s boxing match. Since I’d rather drink a jug of Clorox than watch Butterbean fight, this should very succinctly express my views on women’s boxing.

This should provide some context that I’m not an easy mark for women’s sports. I don’t get dewy eyed in a fit of political correctness when Annika Sorenstam plays in a men’s golf tournament. I couldn’t have cared less when the US Women won the world cup and Brandy Mia Chastaham or whatever her name is ran around in her bra to celebrate. My general apathy toward women’s sports makes what I’m about to say even more amazing.

The best match on the Showtime Elite XC broadcast Saturday night was the women’s MMA match. As I noted in the title, the match between Gina Corano and Julie Kedzie tore down the house. It was by far the most exciting, competitive and entertaining bout of the evening. Both women are very attractive, charismatic and easy to like. They also showed the spirit, toughness and heart that elevates boxing and MMA above “stick and ball” sports in my eyes. I’d love to see a rematch. Furthermore, if this fight is characteristic of what to expect from women’s MMA I hope that Elite XC will present more “distaff” bouts.

Gina Carano. who won by unanimous decision, fights out of Las Vegas where she trains in Muay Thai with the highly regarded Master Toddy. She has fought (and won) twice in Thailand as part of a 12-1-1 Muay Thai record, and a MMA record that she extended to 4-0. She’s also downright gorgeous and a great interview. It’s not unreasonable to suggest that with a few breaks she could be the Danica Patrick of mixed martial arts and cross over to mainstream celebrity. At the very least, she’s almost certainly destined for MMA stardom.

Carano was expected to show well due to her in-ring experience, and obviously the promotion realized long ago that she’s got the makings of a star. She didn’t disappoint, but it was her lesser known opponent that really made the fight. Julie Kedzie–also a lovely girl, though more the “girl next door” type than Carano’s model gorgeous–may not have had the technical striking skills of her opponent but she showed impressive toughness and desire. She has an extensive martial arts background as well, and recently completed her English Lit degree at the University of Indiana and according to the Showtime bio is planning to pursue a Ph.D in the subject. She better watch out, because she may find her academic plans delayed by her MMA career. The Showtime bio indicated that her favorite author is Ernest Hemingway, and with her Elite XC bio revealing her hero to be PRIDE World Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko and her favorite movie to be “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zizzou” I’m tempted to propose marriage.

The Carano/Kedzie matchup was the first nationally televised women’s MMA match in the US but based on the response of the live crowd and this veteran MMA observer I don’t think it’ll be the last. Obviously I was very impressed with the two fighters and the bout they put on, but I still haven’t figured out what they had that so many women’s sports and their participants lack. Carano and Kedzie are both attractive, but once the bell rang they became fighters. The Elite XC organization deserves credit for not downplaying the femininity of their fighters, but not making it a “tits and ass” sideshow a la the WWE’s “divas”. Both women are charismatic with interesting backgrounds, but, again, that alone wasn’t what made the fight. Any fight is more interesting with compelling fighters that fans want to care about so it didn’t hurt, but the Carano/Kedzie matchup succeeded intrinsically as a fight even if you didn’t have know any of the backstory.

So why was this fight so successful? Like boxing, there’s a variety of different ways for a fight to “work”. It can be a highly anticipated matchup between top level stars with a championship at stake. It can be a technical clinic by a Floyd Mayweather, Jr. or the aforementioned Fedor Emelianenko. Many times, however, the most memorable fights are completely unexpected–where two fighters bring out the best in each other and display all of the mental, physical and emotional qualities that define the sport of boxing–and now MMA–at its most glorious. The most memorable boxing matches of the past decade–the Gatti/Ward trilogy, the Morales/Barerra trilogy, the first Coralles/Castillo fight–weren’t highly tactical contests but toe to toe wars that demonstrated the heart, grit and character of the participants. The Corano/Kedzie fight worked so well because of the toughness and courage of both fighters, plain and simple.

And the Elite XC promotion may have caught lightning in a bottle with Women’s MMA. At the very least, it gives them a “unique selling proposition” that the UFC doesn’t have. The organization also deserves credit for giving these women a shot, but not overselling. They were presented in much the same way as the other fighters on the card, and the concept of women’s MMA wasn’t shoved down the collective throat of the audience. That’s something that Women’s Soccer and the WNBA should take a lesson from–just because you beat an audience over the head with something doesn’t mean people will eventually relent and become fans. The Elite XC gave their women fighters the chance to succeed on their own merits, and they did just that.

Julie Kenzie also had the best moment of the postfight–as she stood for an interview with her opponent and Jay Glazer she was asked something about the significance of their fight. As if you couldn’t tell from her bruised face and black eye she asked Glazer “What was the question? I got hit in the head alot”. Just a great line to serve as a coda to a great fight between two professional fighters. Who just happen to be women….

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