First the bad news – while there’s no official word yet from Strikeforce, its parent company Zuffa LLC, or Showtime, it appears that Strikeforce’s incredibly-anticipated January event that promised to make up for the canceled September and November events will indeed be the organization’s last. TMZ, the world’s leading news source for mixed martial arts business dealings, reported yesterday that the future that many people predicted for Strikeforce after it was purchased by Zuffa is indeed coming true. Yes, this sucks.
Now the kind-of-good news – that January 12 event in Oklahoma City could be one of the most exceptional events in MMA history (much like those that we have EXCITING LIVE DISCUSSIONS for), as the rumored plan involves every Strikeforce champion defending his and her titles one last time. It’s not official yet, and according to Yahoo!, we shouldn’t get our hopes up, because UFC president Dana White hates Showtime and won’t let this happen. But I’m a careless optimist and I believe they’ll think of adorable fans like me and absolutely make it happen.
But now, the great news – With Leather favorite and extreme badass Ronda Rousey will indeed be heading to the UFC, which marks an incredible 180 for White.
Ronda Rousey just made MMA history … becoming the very first female fighter to join the UFC … TMZ has learned.
Rousey — a former U.S. Olympian — has officially joined Dana White’s MMA organization … and automatically becomes the 135 lb women’s champion.
We’re told 25-year-old Ronda will defend her title in 2013 — possible opponents include Sara McMann, Cris Cyborg and rival Miesha Tate.
White, of course, previously stated that he’d never feature female fighters in the UFC, but it must be incredibly difficult to ignore the rising star power and money magnet that it Ronda Rousey.
Yahoo!’s Kevin Cole predicts that Rousey will make her UFC debut in February for the UFC’s Super Bowl PPV, which would obviously be awesome because it’s soon and we’re incredibly impatient. Ultimately, it’s nice to see White coming around because it could lead to a much bigger division filled with many more Rouseys. Also, Gina Carano should be the special guest announcer as often as possible. Because I said so.
