Alright. Here we go. Differences between women's divisions in MMA and WNBA, as well as other thoughts.
• One is basketball, one is MMA. I don't like basketball that much. If I absolutely loved it, I probably still wouldn't watch the WNBA, because it doesn't have the exposure necessary to make it feel of consequence, and it's inconvenient to follow two different leagues of the same sport. Not to mention, WNBA operates by different rules.
• MMA fans are used to fighters being separated for fairness already. It's ingrained in the sport. What MMA fans care about is relative ability. They don't care that Cain could squash Mighty Mouse anymore than they should care that Cain would squash Ronda. There's no distinction between separating by weight and separating by gender. If you can appreciate multiple weight divisions, you can appreciate divisions filtered by sex. They're both done for roughly the same purpose. If you can't, then that's on you and you probably have some compartmentalization you need to clear out in your mind.
• Never have I ever watched a woman's fight and said "Wow, she did great... but Dominick Cruz would totally clean her clock." That never enters my mind, because I'm not an idiot. It's as dumb and arbitrary a statement as saying Brock Lesnar would destroy Jose Aldo. Who cares? The only reason you would even bring that up is some weird insecurity.
• Women are generally speaking more flexible than men, and are disproportionately stronger in their lower body compared to what you see in men's upper/lower body strength. This lends itself to a more active transition game on the ground. Women typically have to escape submissions more by technique than powering through with their upper body, as many men do. Not saying one is necessarily better than another, but it is unique and intriguing for that reason. I also suspect that because of women's lower body being so strong relative to their upper body, that you will see more head kick finishes as fighters evolve over time, once the technical skill catches up.
• If you accept the distinction of male/female divisions as the same as weight divisions (which you should), then the only fair criticism that can be made is skill level. Putting athleticism aside -- as athleticism always varies from divisions to division, and fighter to fighter -- it's the skill difference between the male/female divisions that people complain about the most. Well, a couple of things here:
1) Everyone knows that Heavyweight has been a lacking in technical ability for quite a long time. Some fighters have it together, but it's a far way away from being a work of art up there.
2) Yes, generally speaking from a technical perspective the women's divisions are noticeably behind the men's divisions. Not a shocker. There are less women choosing to be fighters and less financial outlets to compete as a female. The only way to change that is to provide better financial incentive and encourage women to train MMA. Having the women's divisions in the UFC does just that. It's only going to get better over time. Just wait until the Rousey generation of little girls -- who are already training -- arrive. The divisions are going to get better, and it's going to be fun to watch it evolve.
• If there were no women's divisions in the UFC, those roster spots would go to unranked fighters you've never heard of fighting in fights of no consequence (you know, those fight pass prelim fighters that you're already not watching unless it's on a card for a fight you DO want to watch). Finding out who the best women in the WORLD are in their respective divisions is infinitely more interesting than watching better skilled men's fights that are of no consequence. I guarantee you there are better fighters that are unranked and fighting fights of no consequence at welterweight than most the fighters ranked in the top 15 at heavyweight, but you're probably not watching those fights for the same reason -- they don't have any weight to them. You'd rather watch the ranked HW fights because you believe in the concept of weight divisions and parity, and you care about relativity. So, why do you accept relativity for weight divisions but ignore relativity when it comes to gender divisions?