UFC pioneer thinks women’s bantamweight is in a lull because “they’re looking for women that are pretty”

MMA has been focusing less on the women’s bantamweight class in recent years. The first woman to step into the UFC octagon has given her unfiltered thoughts on why that is. The combatant in question is Liz Carmouche, who fought for the UFC bantamweight crown against Ronda Rousey years ago. But Carmouche plies her trade as a flyweight these days. Carmouche is on the heels of a guillotine choke win over Viviane Araujo. This flyweight fight transpired at PFL San Diego in the co-main event.

During the PFL post-fight press conference, when asked why a weight class that was once a marquee division in the sport no longer has the eyeballs and prominence that it once did, Carmouche said,

“I’ll give you my honest answer and I don’t think a lot of people are going to like it. My honest answer being is that I think that each division needs a pretty girl. Sadly, that’s the world that we live in. Right now, the 135 division was led by a masculine representing female. That started to kill off the division, right? Which is another reason why I’m probably not the face of this division either because I’m not that pretty girl. I’m a masculine presenting female.”

“So, I’m not going to represent what’s the appeal to most straight men, which is the strongest fan base in women’s MMA. It’s white males 18 to 34 years old. So, they’re looking for women that are pretty. They’re not looking for masculine presenting women. So I think if we can find a pretty girl for 135, sadly and I wish that wasn’t the case, but that’s what we need for that division to explode.”

UFC bantamweight class needs “women making noise”, per surging 135-pound fighter in the promotion

A rising UFC bantamweight who recently beat Karol Rosa at UFC Fight Night: Kape vs. Horiguchi 2 isn’t necessarily worried about her division being dissolved outright. But that being said, Luana Santos recognizes that more 135-pounders need to start drumming up some attention. Expressing these bantamweight-centric thoughts during a pre-fight interview with MMA Fighting, Santos stated,

“Our division doesn’t really have a name coming up that makes people stop and say, ‘Wow, she’s the next big thing’ — other than Amanda [Nunes], who wants to come back, and Kayla [Harrison], who’s in her prime. There’s no one we look at and say, ‘Damn, this girl is coming up, making noise, and she’s marketable.’ There just isn’t. There’s nobody that people are saying, ‘My God, she has to get the title shot, she’s next.’ Our division is pretty quiet.”

“We don’t talk much. There’s Norma [Dumont], who talks a lot and all that, but she just lost, so I think she’ll have to take a couple of steps back. There isn’t that standout girl right now. Kayla herself has already said something along the lines of, ‘If they don’t open 145 again, I’m retiring.’ I don’t think the UFC is going to reopen the 145-pound division. If 135 already doesn’t have that many women making noise, why would they open another division just to have it be quiet too?”

“Featherweight has never been a division with a lot of activity. You’d see fights there once in a blue moon. So yes, if they fight each other, whether they win or lose, I think both retire. Kayla can’t keep making 135 forever — I don’t even know how she still does it today, she’s huge. And that opens the door for the people coming up. Whoever is making noise, selling fights, and winning will move ahead of everyone else in line for the title, no doubt about it.”