By Cassandra Cousineau of LVSportsBiz.com
UFC keeps making history.
Whether it’s as an organization, or a showcase for combat sports athletes, the Dana White-led Ultimate Fighting Championship has continued to pile up a bunch of records in the past 24 months.
Saturday night at UFC’s Apex all-purpose events center, Jessica Andrade (23-9-0) scored the first ever standing arm triangle finish in UFC history when she stopped Amanda Lemos (11-2-1) live on ESPN+. The two Brazilian born women headlined the card — something UFC has presented so often at Apex that it’s no longer a novelty for the Las Vegas-based promotion off the 215 in the southwest valley.
In 12 years, UFC has gone from women’s fights are never going to happen to women’s fights are headlining multiple venues and fight tickets. Pioneered by former UFC champ Ronda Rousey, UFC’s women’s movement and successful marketing partnerships are clearly part of the promotion’s future. Current featherweight champion Amanda Nunes was even featured in Modelo’s 2020 “Fighting Spirit” campaign.
“I don’t know how the whole women’s thing is going to go, how it’s going to go over, or what it’s going to do,” White told USA TODAY Sports at the time.
In 2013, Rousey and Liz Carmouche became the first women to compete in the UFC. Sixteen women’s fights took place that year.
Since then, nearly 200 women have fought in UFC. In 2020 and 2021 close to 100 bouts featured women. That included Angela Hill, the first Black woman to headline a UFC care. Further, of the 26 women’s contests to be awarded Fight of the Night, Weili Zhang vs Joanna Jedrzejczyk was awarded UFC 2020 Fight of the Year and regarded as the best in women’s MMA history.
The important numbers like ratings have validated UFC’s positioning women at the top of its cards. Especially when it comes to producing events at Apex, its high-powered 120,000-square-feet production studio and arena facility headquarter in the southwest valley of Las Vegas.
According to MMA Fighting, UFC Vegs 26, headlined by Michelle Waterson (18-9-0) and Marina Rodriguez (16-1-2) in 2021, averaged 741,000 viewers which made it the second most viewed UFC event on ESPN of that year. The event was No. 1 for its time slot among 18-49 year-olds for that evening.
“I don’t know if I ever didn’t think that it could be this big. I just never thought the level of skill and technique these women have would be some of the baddest fights in the UFC,” White told LVSportsBiz.com during UFC 269.
A bright spot during the pandemic, Apex has become a perfect platform for rising stars, fighters on the precipice of solidifying themselves as a brand name, and even those returning to the spotlight after a lengthy absence.
One of the most popular women’s fighters in MMA history, and former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate headlined UFC Fight Night against Ketlen Vieira (12-2-0) on Oct. 16 of 2021. “Cupcake” made her return from retirement after five years away in a narrow defeat to Vieira.
In addition to the success of its women’s led events, heading into the second quarter UFC is already in stride for another banner year. According to Gene Tinner, VP of Event Marketing and Ticketing, the recent UFC 273 event at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville was the “14th consecutive sellout in which full capacity was permitted. All 14 of those, 12 of them pay-per-views, have sold out. Six times, the UFC set a record for highest-grossing gate for the arena, including at UFC 261, UFC 262 and UFC 263, the first three events upon return.”
The fourth, UFC 264, set a T-Mobile attendance record of 20,062, though the $15.8 million gate was not a record. It was, though, among the UFC’s largest gates in its history.
Saturday, UFC and Bellator went head-to-head with their respective women’s main events. The UFC with Andrade vs. Lemos were featured on ESPN+. While Bellator countered streaming on Showtime with former champion, and still formidable Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino who successfully defended her featherweight title in a rematch against Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 279.
Overall, the women’s fighting business in the UFC has seen a massive rise in popularity in the last decade, with its most notable gains coming as of late inside of its Apex facility in Las Vegas. So, when it comes to what’s possible in women’s MMA we should probably stick to never say never.
PSA