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He's banked the future of women's mma on this one athlete by signing 15 other women, putting them as co-main events (Tate/Zingano, Davis/Carmouche) of UFC events and placed others on main cards and televised prelims of UFC events, putting still more women on TUF - giving them a weekly platform to display their skills to a nationwide TV audience. Say what you want about the UFC - they have done a tremendous job in not making their women's division the Ronda Rousey Show - even while everyone continues to describe it as the Ronda Rousey show.
And has anyone ever in the history of combat sports either bought a ticket or a ppv or not bought a ticket or a PPV based on being "unimpressed with (a fighter's) personality"? Are there a thousand threads on sherdog about how Cain/JDS buyrates are going to be effected by Cain's dour stoic boringness and JDS's wide-eyed momma's boy act? There is a weird strain of misogyny inherent in this line of reasoning that women's mma is going to be adversely effected if Ronda Rousey is regarded as crazy or a b*tch. She's supposed to be.
With women's MMA is in it's early stages.... if you look at the marketing for the UFC in 2004-06 Dana looked to guys like Rich Franklin as an example of guys who are smart, articulate, and can hold their own in front of the camera. Rich was the math teacher turned fighter, and this images helped people view MMA as a sport instead of cage fighting Neanderthals.
The UFC markets Rhonda as hard as any other fighter right now, and I would have thought Dana would prefer someone he could prance around as an "intelligent girl next door can also break your arm", instead of what he's getting. If not for her appearance on TUF, I think that image could still be in tact.
Bad guys sell tickets too, but my point is that if Dana had a preference I suspect he'd prefer she be a female Rich Franklin instead of a Tito Ortiz.
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