When the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) announced in December last year that they would be introducing a new and second female weight class, supporters of women in sport were pretty giddy. The announcement came less than a year after the first ever female fight within the organisation back in February 2013 when Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defended her world title against challenger Liz Carmouche. Not only did this confirm the demand for female fighters in the UFC, but to hear that the show this year – now in its twentieth season – would be the first to feature an all-female cast meant that women were really making enough of an impact in the sport to carry an entire season on their shoulders.
The reality television show features 16 professional mixed martial artists competing against each other – while living in the same house and training on two different teams – for the top prize, which would be fought for in the live finale on 12th December 2014 in Las Vegas. In previous issues, this prize has been a contract with the prestigious UFC. But perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of the prize this year is that the winner will not only leave with a contract, but will also be crowned the inaugural champion of the strawweight division – so there's much more on the line.
So why has this season been such a success so far? Well, it's the first time the show has featured the top 16 competitors available in the weight category. In existing weight classes, most of the top fighters are already contracted to the UFC, so the athletes are competing on the show for an opportunity to work their way up the rankings within the world-class pool of fighters that the UFC has on its roster. In this season, we're already watching that high-level athleticism and skill from the get-go. That's pretty exciting.
Since a lot of the girls already know each other from competing within the same circles, and sometimes even against each other, the dynamics of the house are different to how they've ever been in any previous seasons. There are existing friendships and underlying tensions that make for great storylines and an interesting atmosphere, only lending itself well to the reality television show.
Team this up with two world-class fighters in Gilbert Melendez and Anthony Pettis as this season's coaches, and it's not hard to see why this season was onto a winner. And things are only heating up now that we get to start seeing teammates compete against each other. While seven Team Pettis fighters made it through to the next round, only one from Team Melendez will be carrying the flag for her team into the quarter-finals, so things are really heating up.
Adding to the excitement are Scot Joanne Calderwood and Irish fighter Aisling Daly, representing this side of the pond. They were ranked number two and five respectively, and have so far made a great impression having made it through to the next round. We're interested to see how things are going to pan out over the course of the quarter and semi-finals.
Catch The Ultimate Fighter: A Champion Will Be Crowned every Wednesday night at 3am on BT Sport with each show repeated Thursday at 10pm.
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