Post 7: Women Are Strong (another long one)

So, ever since I got together with Karson in 2017, she has educated me on the wonders of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or the UFC (which is not the fake stuff, by the way, that’s WWE), which she has been a loyal fan of since about 2008. We pirate watch Fight Nights as often as we can, and have watched several seasons of the UFC’s Big Brother-esque show called The Ultimate Fighter, or TUF; this show is basically a bunch of fighters split into two teams who all live in the same house and train/eat/sleep/bleed together for the duration of the show. The members of the team fight one another through a bracket until there are only two, who then fight for a UFC contract and usually another added prize. We just finished watching season 20 (2014), which was an all-female fighter season, and was jam-packed with nasty, middle school-style Mean Girl drama. I was disgusted, almost as much as I am by the scantily-clad ring girls present in every fight. Despite these qualms I have with the UFC, there is so much I love about it. This weekend, we started season 26 of TUF (2017), another all-female season, with nearly no drama to be had whatsoever! Not only did this shock me, but the sheer amount of diversity in the cast did, as well. Most of these women are mothers, some single-mothers, some are queer, many teach classes to others/kids in MMA, and almost all of them mention feeling like a totally different person when they’re on the mat/in the cage rather than in their everyday life (double-consciousness?). One thing they all undeniably have in common, these are all Strong Women. Not only in a physical sense (but definitely in a physical sense, these women beat the living hell out of each other weekly), but in an emotional and mental sense, as well. If you decide to watch this season or clips from it, I promise that you will be amazed by this group of women and their diversity and strength.  *Again, not telling you everything, because #NoSpoilers.*

Throughout this blog, I’m going to discuss the diversity, strength, and pure womanly power displayed in this season of TUF, and I’ll be referring to this chart/picture of the cast of TUF season 26 (please note this chart is in no particular order, and the top row will be row 1, second row 2, etc.):

                                            A                     B                      C                     D  

Let’s start with A1, Roxanne Modeferri. This woman was not new to me, as she competed in season 18 of TUF with coaches Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate, and lost in her preliminary fight. Roxanne was an ESL teacher in Japan for years, and in season 26, teaches an Armenian woman who speaks little English throughout their stay at the UFC house. She is known for being an anime nerd and goofball, especially during weigh-ins. (I’d just like to mention these women have no access to phones/tv/internet during the whole competition)

                      

Shana Dobson is fighter B1 on the chart, and in one of her face-to-face sit-downs with the camera, talks about her struggle as a black lesbian with a father who is supportive and a mother who is not. They also include a home video of Shana and her girlfriend that is very, very cute.

Let’s skip to Emily Whitmire, A2, who trains with Miesha Tate in Las Vegas and, at the time of the filming, admits to the camera that she is homeless because she sold her home to be able to attend TUF. However, she says she’s been homeless before, at 16 years old, and that she “spent [her] 16^th birthday in juvie”. Early in the season, Emily suffers a rib injury, yet goes on weeks later to fight and submit her opponent (for non-fight watchers, this means she got her in a choke she couldn’t get out of and forced her to tap and submit the win).

Melinda Fabian (C2) is a 30 year old Hungarian woman, who states that her goal is to become the very first Hungarian UFC fighter, as there were not any at the time of this filming. Throughout the season, Fabian is seen fighting through a leg injury, as all of these tough, TUF women must do.

D2 is Rachael Ostovich-Berdon on Team Gaethje, who gives several of the women ‘make-overs’ in an early episode of this season and wears black, lacy lingerie to her weigh-in. In episode 7 (Enjoy The Moment), Rachael speaks about being a “cheerleader in high school” and expresses that “no one ever guesses [she does] any competitive sport, nonetheless MMA”. She goes on to tell the story of her pregnancy struggle when she was told by the doctor that her daughter was growing with her organs on the outside of her body. The doctor offered an abortion but Rachael “just couldn’t”, and her daughter is a healthy toddler now. Before going into her preliminary fight on this show, Rachael gives this message to her daughter through the camera: “you can be whatever you want when you grow up”. This Hawaiian woman went on to win that fight and move on to the next level. Also, when was the last time you heard a female athlete talk about abortion/pregnancy issues on national television?

              

I’m including Sijara Eubanks (B3), who struggles making weight at her secondary fight, directly after Rachael Ostovich-Berdon just to emphasize how diverse these women are in not only race/sexuality/etc, but also in their gender expression. Also, more ladies with dreads!

Ariel Beck (D3) even has panic attack early in the season during a group training session, and the cameras show her talking to her coach/teammates about mental health issues and recurring panic attacks. This season is tackling all of the hot-button issues of today.

Karine Gevorgyan (B4) is an Armenian woman who speaks almost no English and who is unable to fight like this in her own country. Karine is taught English in the house by Roxanne Modaferri, and is shown struggling a bit with her coach (who only speaks English) as he is trying to explain different training methods to her.

There is also a Native American fighter in this season, Nicco Montano (D4)!

                 

Finally, the reason I wanted to write this post in the first place, Barb Honchak (C1). In episode 26, Barb, who is the oldest fighter in the game at filming time and was the Invicta Flyweight Champion for years, speaks about all of the pressure fighters feel before going into the ring for a fight. Barb talks about being “worried about what people are gonna say about them after the fight, if they win or if they lose, or if it was a boring fight or a good fight, or, pfft, if your boob falls out of your bra…it’s just noise” (27:15). Later in the episode, Barb also states that “if [she] weren’t doing [fighting] right now, [she’d] be in a science lab”, which made me curious about her background. Turns out, Barb has a Bachelor’s Degree in Molecular Bio and a Master’s in Ecological Genetics. Who knew, not only can women be pretty, funny, and tough, but they can be smart, too!

There is so much I love about strong women, and this particular season of TUF reminded me of that. I will close out with another one of my favorite things about the UFC stated by UFC President himself, Dana White, in Episode 7 of this season: “women are overall paid less than men, but in the UFC, women fighters make significantly more than the men fighters”.