Last weekend’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) card was headlined by women for the first time since 2023. Two exciting prospects in the women’s flyweight division, Natalia Silva and Wang Cong, went head-to-head in one of the most action-packed mixed martial arts (MMA) title fights of 2026. Yet reactions online ranged from muted applause to disrespect. Many fans boasted about turning off their TVs after the undercard: a lack of commitment that would get them labelled a ‘casual fan’ if they were talking about even the lowest-level male event.
So why isn’t women’s MMA taken more seriously, and what can be done to improve its reputation?
It took 20 years for the UFC to hold its first women’s fight. The company’s president, Dana White, had initially sworn he would “never” allow women to fight. But he was swayed by a 2012 meeting with the charismatic Ronda Rousey, a former Olympic judo medallist and champion.
Rousey had her first UFC fight in 2013, winning easily, and then went on a two-year tear of first round victories, attracting swathes of new fans and becoming the second-biggest star in the company behind Conor McGregor.
Since Rousey’s prime, the sport has evolved significantly, and athletes like Amanda Nunes far surpass her level of skill.
However, no female fighter has come close to Rousey in terms of popularity, and the viewing numbers for women’s title fights have dropped massively since her retirement. The UFC publicity machine ensures that male fighters — even relatively publicity-shy ones, such as Alex Pereira — become household names, while female fighters languish in the shadows.
Online, there is a dismaying crossover between the right-wing “manosphere” and the martial arts scene. In gyms, too, the atmosphere can be intimidating, if not outright hostile, especially for women. This means many potential female fighters never even get past the first hurdle.
Gyms should increase the number of female-only and beginner-friendly sessions they offer. With luck, this would create not only a new wave of female fighters, but also female fans.
Fighting companies like UFC, meanwhile, should learn from the success of women’s football. Why narrow your appeal to just half the population (if that, given how many men are also put off by the toxic machismo of the MMA scene), when you could aim for the whole world?
“140095_7592” by Walt Disney Television is licensed under CC BY-ND 2.0.
