Liz Carmouche and Ronda Rousey will be squaring off at UFC 157 for the Women’s Bantamweight Championship
Yesterday’s UFC press conference in Seattle was definitely full of news. One of the announcements was announced that that poor Johnny Hendricks would be getting passed over for a welterweight title shot so Georges St. Pierre can turn Nick Diaz into a smear on the Octagan canvas, but that wasn’t the biggest news. No, this was overshadowed by the naming of Ronda Rousey as the first UFC women’s bantamweight champion, and the announcement that her debut fight would be the headlining bout at UFC 157 against Liz “Girlrilla” Carmouche. Everybody’s excited, talking about how much of a big deal it is that women will be headlining a pay-per-view, but they’re also forgetting that this will be the first time that an openly gay athlete will be competing at the top of any kind of combat sports card. This, in and of itself, is a historic event, and it’s one the UFC isn’t even playing up.
(More after the jump)
“Why is this a big deal? We’re in the 21st Century, right?” You may ask, and that’s understandable. We’re supposed to be in an age of tolerance and acceptance, but some institutions are slower to change than others. In the major team sports, there have been grassroots efforts to make it easier for homosexual athletes to feel comfortable playing amongst their straight counterparts, but it hasn’t worked to the extent many would have hoped. There are no openly gay players in the NHL, NFL, MLB, or NBA, or even in any other major sports league I can think of, except for the Ultimate Fighting Championships. That’s right, the biggest organization in mixed martial arts, the one owned and operated by two casino-running Italian-American brothers and their foul-mouthed friend, has an openly gay fighter, and her name is Liz Carmouche. That a member of the GLBT community is able to succeed in what’s considered such a hetero-centric sport, especially to the point where she’s given a chance to shine for the world as one half of a main event fight is unheard of in modern athletics. It’s on par with the idea of the LA Lakers signing a gay player and putting him in their starting line-up!
In a world where GLBT athletes feel the need to stage their own version of the Olympics, a queer athlete competing together openly with straight athletes is a rarity. Still, thanks to mixed martial arts, it’s happening, and the woman leading this charge is someone who can be a great role model for people, regardless of gender or sexual identity. Liz Carmouche is a former Marine who has seen combat, and comes across in interviews as just a regular person. There’s no hang-ups, there’s no craziness; there’s just passion, ambition, and a pursuit of happiness. Carmouche is a fighter and an athlete, and got to where she is through hard work and perseverance, nothing more. So, in February 2013, at UFC 157, watch her make history.
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