There is a continuing debate in WMMA about the role of sex appeal. In a 2014 interview with Brazil's Tatame, Invicta FC bantamweight Ediane "India" Gomes came down firmly on the side that sex appeal has no place in our sport.
"The [female] fighters in the UFC are more worried about showing their asses than actually fighting," said Gomes to Tatame as translated by Guilherme Cruz for MMAFighting. "MMA has become a new thing because of Ronda, but she's actually one of the few real fighters. To be in the UFC, you have to show your ass. They should just put some strippers to brawl in there, it would be better."
And Ediane, who heroically overcame extraordinary adversity, has a sense of humor about the issue, too:
In 2013, then Invicta now UFC strawweight Felice Herrig offered a differing but not opposite perspective on WMMA and sex appeal.
"I play up the sexy side, but I'm not playing," said Herrig to MMAMania's Brian Hemminger. "I'm being me. I'm not doing anything I'm uncomfortable with. A lot of people think that's what I'm all about and that I don't care about my fighting, that I spend more time promoting myself than training. There's only so much time in the day. I'm more dedicated than any other woman I've met and most of the guys. At the same time, fighting is a business. I'm promoting my brand. With women athletes, you get a lot more opportunities. It's more intriguing to the general public if they see a woman that wouldn't strike you as a fighter."
Regardless of the appropriate role of sex appeal in WMMA, if a female MMA fighter is sexy but lacks skill, she will get beaten up until she quits. Still, if there are two female fighters with equivalent skill, and one plays up the sex appeal and another doesn't, the former will get more fights, with a higher profile, and more money, because sex appeal puts asses in seats.
So the debate continues, and doubtless will below.
And the MMA fanbase is no longer a "No Girlz Allowd" club. So women on the UG, both of you, post your favorite hot guy images. And gay guys post your favorite hot male fighter pics, too; it's not 1950, we made it to 2020, somehow.
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