BANGOR, Maine — Dana White wasn’t convinced women would ever become part of the competitive equation within the Ultimate Fighting Championship — until he came face-to-face with the ideal prospect.
“I was one of those guys who said it would never happen, you’d never see women fighting in the UFC,” said White, the company’s president and a 1987 Hermon High School graduate. “Then I met Ronda Rousey.
“I sat down with her for about 45 minutes, and 15 minutes into it I was talking to myself saying, ‘I think I’m going to do this, this is the girl we can definitely launch with.’ Then when I looked into it more there was enough talent to keep Ronda busy for a couple of years and now even more talent is popping up.”
The undefeated Rousey, a 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in judo, has gone on not only to become the UFC’s first women’s bantamweight (135-pound) champion, but also has transcended the Octagon to help to take mixed martial arts even more into the American mainstream.
She’s appeared in movies and television commercials, and last month was named best female athlete at the 2014 ESPY Awards.
Rousey’s success and fame has created opportunities for other women athletes focused on competing at mixed martial art’s highest levels.
“I’d never say never anymore when it comes to women in the UFC because the women have actually blown me away, not only with their level of talent but with how many of them are coming up,” White said.
Two of those combatants, Sara McMann and Lauren Murphy, will square off Saturday night in a three-round bantamweight bout on the undercard of UFC Fight Night 47 at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
Preliminary fights are scheduled to begin at 8 p.m., followed at 10 p.m. by the main card headlined by a battle between light heavyweight contenders Ryan Bader and Ovince Saint Preux and a homecoming bout featuring Lincolnville native Tim Boetsch against middleweight rival Brad Tavares.
McMann (7-1) is coming off a first-round loss to Rousey in the main event of UFC 170 last February in Las Vegas. A 2004 Olympic silver medalist in freestyle wrestling, McMann was concentrating her defense against Rousey’s trademark armbar when she got caught with a knee to the liver that led to the fight being halted after just 66 seconds.
Murphy (8-0) is a newcomer to the UFC after winning the Invicta FC bantamweight championship last December. A pro since 2010, the native Alaskan has six knockouts.
“Sara McMann really is a beast,” White said. “She’s lost just one fight and that was to Ronda Rousey, who is the most amazing athlete on the planet right now.”
The increased impact of women on the UFC isn’t reflected solely in individual stars, like Rouse and bouts like McMann-Murphy.The latest edition of the promotion’s long-running “The Ultimate Fighter” television series will conclude by crowning a second UFC women’s champion, this time in the strawweight division.
“This is the only season we’ve ever done that will crown a champion,” White said, “so we went out and locked up all the best 115-pounders and brought them in to do this season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ and the winner will be our champion.”
The eight contenders currently filming “The Ultimate Fighter” in Las Vegas includes Bangor native Emily Kagan, who currently trains at one of the top mixed martial arts facilities in the country, Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“When she got here we had our big Maine talk, we sat down and talked for about an hour,” said White, who now lives in Las Vegas but maintains a home in Levant and visits the Bangor area with his family frequently.
“She’s training in Albuquerque but she’s a Mainer, believe me.”
Season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter” is scheduled to begin airing Sept. 10 on Fox Sports 1.
“You want to know how well women are doing in the UFC?” White asked. “Fox has the biggest marketing plan they’ve ever done with ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ geared up for this season.
“They’re doing this huge Hollywood premiere in Los Angeles with red carpet, it’s going to be crazy. They’re putting a lot of money behind this season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ that’s how important the women’s divisions are.”
White said current plans are for the the UFC to focus on further establishing the bantamweight and strawweight ranks before any consideration is given to further expansion of its women’s ranks.
“The most remarkable thing about the women now is how talented they are,” he said. “They’re technically very good, and almost every time women fight in the UFC, they end up winning the bonuses at the end of the night because they’re so exciting.”
