Am I a chauvinist? I really didn’t enjoy the Shevchenko vs. Cachoeira fight
Right to fight
It's 100 years since the 1918 Act paved the way for women to vote in the UK. Even though there may be a way to go, there is no denying the rights for women have come a long way since then.
These rights extend to combat sport.
Whether you appreciate the skill and nuance of mixed martial arts or see it as barbaric cage fighting, there is no denying women who dedicate their life to the craft have the right to compete of the greatest platforms to the largest audiences.
Clean cut
In this respect mixed martial arts has come a long way since UFC president Dana White declared in 2011 that we would never see women in MMA.
The emergence of Ronda Rousey as a global icon in combat sport has helped make women fighting palatable to the mainstream. In many ways Rousey was the perfect crossover star. Apart from her dominance, it was the manner of Ronda's wins that made watching her fights easy to digest. They were generally quick, blood-free and by armbar submission. Audiences got the skill of martial arts with limited exposure to the brutality.
Honour in pain
I'll confess. As much as I love MMA, I can find it hard to watch at times. There are moments when watching fights that you appreciate MMA fighters aren't your average human beings. The punishment some of these athletes endure in pursuit of the 'W' is truly exceptional at timed. The W stands for warrior as much as it stands for win. In defeat the least a combatant wants to leave the cage with is the badge of honour.
It’s in our DNA
Without meaning to sound like an amateur anthropologist, I sometimes feel that as a species we revere warriors. And while there are certainly women that 'take care of business' in combat, deep in our psyche we look to the men in society to play the warrior role. To serve and protect the tribe if you will.
Modern comforts
We are fortunate to live (by in large) in a civilised, santised and somewhat pampered existence compared to other times in human history. A high percentage of us have never experienced war or had to literally fight for survival. For many watching a UFC bout is the nearest they'll get to witnessing the naked truth of hand-to-hand combat.
Best fighting the best
The reason why I like MMA is because it is a combination of something innate and elite competition. I like to see the best compete against the best in any sport. Watching two elite mma practitioners compete, both on the top of their game is almost like watching art unfold in front of your eyes.
Chalk and cheese
However there is a flipside. Watching a mismatched MMA fight is a bit like watching a car crash. On Saturday night we saw a car crash.
We had two fighters making their debut in the UFC’s Women’s Flyweight division. However they were almost polar opposites in terms of where they were in their career. Brazilian Priscila Cachoeira was an unbeaten novice making her debut in the UFC. Her opponent Valentina Shevchenko is widely acknowledged as pound-for-pound one of the best strikers in the world (man or women). The 125lb, Flyweight division is a natural fit for Shevchenko however as the division did not exist in the UFC until recently, Shevchenko has been fighting in the 135lb bantamweight division. Despite being undersized for the weight-class, Shevchenko rose to the of the ranking with a string of impressive victories. She only lost a razor-close split decision to the Women' bantamweight champion, Amanda Nunes.
Two rounds too many
What unfolded was a relative novice against an elite athlete in her prime.
For me it was horrible to watch.
From the opening bell, it was clear that Cachoeira was out of her depth. Usually with such a massive discrepancy in skillsets you’d expect the contest to be over quickly. The trouble was that Cachoeira was so damn tough. It meant what should have been a short sharp thrashing turned into almost 10 minutes of one-sided slaughter.
Noise is deafening
Worse still Cachoeira was fighting at home, in Brazil. The Brazilians are brilliantly noisy when their fighter is winning however in defeat the atmosphere is like a morgue. Often the crowd noise can dilute the brutality of MMA. However on this occasion we could here the bone-crushing elbows bouncing off of Cachoeira skull as she lay helpless on the canvass.
Baptism of fire
It was a baptism of fire for the newcomer and it goes to the heart of the issue I have with women’s MMA. It’s nothing to do with sexism. It’s the lack of depth. In men’s MMA, generally speaking, you have to be elite to make it into the UFC. There is a basic level of know how you need to even compete at a regional level let alone in the big show. However, due to the sheer lack of numbers, the same doesn’t always apply to the women’s divisions. It means you can get a fighter like Priscila Cachoeira who was 8-0 and not know whether she is the next Ronda Rousey or a good scrapper at a local level. And with this lack of knowledge, she still ends up getting pitted against the best of the best in her first fight because, frankly there were few other possible matchups to make at this time for both fighters (at 125lb).
Going out on your shield
I get no pleasure in watching anyone getting beaten up, man or woman. I find it strange that the referee Mario Yamasaki justified letting the action continue to allow Cachoeira “to be a warrior and keep fighting.” However Cachoeira was being outstruck 201 - 3. She was on the receiving end of a one-sided beatdown and was not in a position to intelligently defend herself. I get the notion of 'going out on your shield' however Cachoeira was the proverbial lamb to the slaughter.
Are you not entertained?
The question for me is whether this is a one-off? I doubt it. I believe there will be very few legitimate challengers for Shevchenko at 125lb. She is just too good. In much the same way that there are only a handful of women that can mount a legitimate challenge to Cris Cyborg at 145lb. Cyborg is just to good. However I'd rather see the same challengers recycled than putting fighters that are out of their depth in with these trained killers.
It is no fun watching elite fighter vs novices not for me.
Rocky stories are fun however they are for the movies; the UFC is no place for a Cinderella man... or woman.
I believe the reason for the mismatches and the lack of competition, is as you say, down to a lack of numbers, but we must take into consideration the fact that the female side of ufc, is still very close to its infancy, and still finding its footing. It was the same with the male side of ufc when it was just starting out. Nothing begins at its best, it takes time to grow, mature and evolve.
It is only with the rise of more superstars like Gina Carano and Rhonda Rousey, who can make the crossover from fighter to celebrity, that there will be a spike in competitors, and therefore, more fighters who rise to that elite level. The generation that these two ladies have inspired are still learning, still growing and so is their sport,but we won't actually see the real impact of these women until the next generation.
Also monetary rewards will also bring a spike in competitors, the more millionaires that the sport produces, the more women will be willing to say, i' ll throw my hat in the cage and give that a go.
I missed that lopsided fight, looks like it should’ve been stopped real early. That’s not good entertainment or a good contest.
I love love the brilliance of the competition & multi disciplined marial arts mastery on display in the ufc. I hate hate hate the lack of respect most US fans have for what they are watching. One hard shin to the head will change your whole brain functioning & life forever. So I end up watching fights with a very few select people these days, mostly people that have been close to veteran fighters & seen the consequences first hand.
I like to see tactical fighting, the smartest possible way to defeat your opponent. I don’t like seeing intelligent fighters intentionally brawl to sell fights. Strategy should be embraced by fans in my opinion. It is chess with dire consequences out there & most of them get paid very little for what they do.
The sport is evolving quickly & soon we will see a generation of fighters that have trained more mma specific skills since childhood. Gladiators
Are you a chauvinist? no. Any sport between two near equally skilled athletes is o.k. but a slaughter even in a non-contact sport like tennis sucks to watch. A lot of props to Cachoeira for giving it her all, but at least in wrestling the squash matches just appear to be brutal whereas she took some serious punishment. I think a lot of us have the mental memory of Ali embedded in us as he took the beatings during his career and payed for it in his latter years which none of us wish on these athletes.
I watched this fight because VS is one of my favourite fighters, I complained about this matchup from when it was announced. This doesn't tell us where either fighter sits as a competitor in the division. It's obvious Svhevy is a contender, we don't get to see how PC is as a fighter, a chance for her to developed in the cage or gain any fans, she's tough as hell is all I know. And considering she's a case of turning your life around, the UFC failed to capture a demographic of fans who can relate or appreciate that. Yamasaki sucks, but a good ref would've stopped it after the opening exchange and TD, a good promoter never would have made the fight, on cable tv of all things!!!
Really happy to see some UFC fans on Steemit. Being a long-time fan, I did find a lot of things about this fight off-putting. Svechenko is a top fighter, she barely lost to Nunes both times, and is incredibly skilled. This newbie just got pounded and was completely mismatched, maybe it was more economical to bring in a local which would also have more appeal to Brazil? Topped with Yamasaki's judging who missed the first tap, and not stopping it after the savage beating, it was just a giant misstep for UFC. While new fighters deserve a shot, she deserves and desires to fight an adequate opponent. It was just a letdown...they happen quite often in UFC...but when the fights are good ...they are fire...nothing's perfect. Followed!
Yes I think Priscila was on the card because she was Brazilian and it was in Brazil. It was an opportunity to showcase her talent. I believe her original opponent dropped out, I'm surprised the UFC put her in with someone as seasoned as Valentina.
It doesn't help that Yamasaki is Brazilian too. I think that influenced him and he felt the pressure not to stop the fight too early. Unfortunately it went the other way, he let it go on too long.
Interesting, I feel the same to a degree. The vikings would go into battle with women they called shield maidens. They were in many ways as brutal as the men and many became legends. In contrast the Abrahamic religions and the societies they created women are mostly regarded as the weaker sex. So I'm not sure it's a dna thing, perhaps it is a societal norm that has become so ingrained that it seems like human nature. In other words, if the vikings won, this might not seem so taboo. But I do agree, our nature now for whatever reason as men is too feel protective of women. Honestly, I don't think that's a bad thing. Thanks for sharing.
Shevchenco teniques are the best I seen... man or woman. She will be a champion soon. Was such a mismatch. So ugly to watch. The referee need retraining or have his vision fixed.
I love combat sports and am I huge UFC fan. At first I wasn't keen on watching female fighters but gave it a chance and found some to be entertaining fights. There is an obvious skill gap between mens MMA and women's but they are improving and I believe that in years to come they will have multiple stacked divisions with high level fighters.
I agree with you that it is not great to see one sided beat downs, for men or women. And that Shevchenko is way superior to any other in her new weight class at the moment.
It wasn't too long ago that people thought the same about Ronda Rousey though.
I think you outlined it well.
And the problem is, this fight may have done more to retard the women's arena by detering many women from entering. Many newbies may now say "wtf, nevermind" thereby maintaining a sparce playing field that will inevitably result in more of these ridiculously unequal matchups.
I don't really like to watch women fight. I don't think I am chauvinist. At least I don't think I am. I'm all for women not being stereotypical or in traditional roles, but Women's MMA is too much for me sometimes especially, like you said when one is vastly superior. Also I agree that I didnt mind Rousey so much because she would just armbar chicks and it would be over. Judging by this thumbnail, Cachoeira got slaughtered and the promoters and whoever made this fight shouldve known better. 201-3 wtf are you doing here? Im not a pro fighter, but put me in there and I'm landing more than 3 strikes.