Ronda Rousey has made a name for herself before making her debut in the UFC. In just one year of professional MMA fighting she won the title in Strikeforce.  The only reason women are fighting in the UFC is because she is that good. Rousey is a superstar that is streaking upwards, and has no fade in sight. After Rousey and Liz Carmouche fought in the Main Event at UFC 157 this should no longer be considered an experiment.

The Honda Center was packed Saturday night with over 15,000 fans. Maybe they weren’t there for the Rousey-Carmouche title fight, but when the fight night ended they saw a great debut fight for women in the UFC.

It was a back and forth fight that saw Rousey, 6-0 and in trouble for the first time in her professional career. Carmouche was able to get a full back mount and sink in a deep neck crank. Everyone watching saw what a true champion is made of, as the color in Rousey’s face started to turn deep red she was able to persevere. Then did what she has done in her previous six fights; finish her opponent in the first round via arm-bar.

Both fighters showed an impressive set of skills. This was not a side-show. This was a display of female fighting at its very best. Naysayers wanted the Machida-Henderson fight as the Main Event. Imagine if it was. That fight, at best, was boring. Joe Rogan can try to pretty it up and say that we just don’t appreciate Machida’s style, but maybe fans just enjoy watching a fight, and not a track meet.

The female division is in no danger of collapsing or ending. The UFC started to look past this event by signing four more women in the past month. Not just fillers either, they signed some of the top female fighters in the world. Rousey will have a full lineup for this next year. She will fight at least once more in 2013, and if her next fight is as entertaining as the one at UFC 157 hopefully she fights more.

The UFC adding women to their promotion is a smart move. Women have been training in wrestling, karate, and MMA now for years. Up and coming female fighters had to look to Strikeforce as a goal to reach. Hoping and praying that one day the UFC would give in and notice that female fighters have what it takes to put on entertaining fights. Amateur female fighters, like Heather Bassett who fights out of Wisconsin, can now work, train, and strive to catch the eye of the UFC brass and fight for the biggest MMA organization in the world.

We can stop calling the women’s division in the UFC an experiment. It was a rousing success, and it was an entertaining fight. The saying goes, “Haters are gonna hate”, and when that first boring women’s fight happens those haters will come out in droves. Those haters were silenced after UFC 157’s Main Event, even if it was for just one night.

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