Women pro combat-sports fighters are punching their way to the top of high-profile pay-per-view and televised fight cards as the familiarity of top female athletes in boxing and mixed martial arts, along with the quality of their fights, clicks with both distributors and fans.
Once considered a novelty, industry observers said female fighters are now garnering an unprecedented level of acceptance and respect. “Women fighters used to be a big joke, but now people look at them and say they actually can fight,” said Tony Paige, a former boxing broadcaster and sports-talk host on WFAN New York. “No one’s running to the fridge anymore because a women’s fight is on TV.”
Women have been in the boxing game for decades, with such names as Laila Ali, Christy Martin and Jacqui Frazier-Lyde bringing attention to female fisticuffs back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Martin’s 1996 bout against Deirdre Gogarty was among the first women’s bouts to appear on a major PPV telecast as an undercard fight to Mike Tyson-Frank Bruno. Ali and Frazier-Lyde, the daughters of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, respectively, fought in 2001 in what is considered to be the first PPV event headlined by a women’s boxing match, according to ESPN.
Paige, who currently writes sports stories for the New York Daily News, said back then there weren’t enough good women fighters to keep female boxing competitive and interesting. Also, past and current critics of female boxing point to the specialized rules set for participants — including 2-minute rounds compared to 3 minutes for men’s matches, as well as larger glove sizes for women — as a detriment to putting women fighters on par with male boxers.
Today’s crop of female boxers are plentiful, talented, and not afraid to fight each other in very competitive matchups, Paige said.
Taylor-Serrano Stirs Interest
Indeed, Netflix will stream one of the biggest bouts of the year between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano as a co-main event on its November 15 Jake Paul-Mike Tyson card. Taylor and Serrano’s 2022 fight, streamed by DAZN, was the first ever to feature women headliners at New York’s Madison Square Garden. Taylor’s split decision win over Serrano was named Sports Illustrated’s 2022 fight of the year.
This past July, multiple world women’s boxing champion Claressa Shields headlined a DAZN pay-per-view boxing telecast as she defeated Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse to win the women’s heavyweight title.
DAZN has put female fighters at the forefront of its boxing cards for years, according to VP of marketing Alfie Sharman. He would not provide specific PPV numbers for the Shields Lepage-Joanisse event but said it surpassed purchase expectations.
“If you put two people at the top of their game in any field, even if you’ve never heard of them, you’d be hard-pressed not to be impressed by them,” Sharman said. “The more these talented athletes want to fight at the top level, the more the consumer is going to enjoy it irrespective of gender because at the end of the day, it’s good, quality action.”
Women fighters also fight on major UFC mixed martial arts PPV and televised events. This past July, ESPN’s UFC Fight Night featured as its main event a women’s strawweight bout between Amanda Lemos and Virna Jandiroba, one of four female-led cards the network televised this year.
Female fighters have appeared on UFC PPV and in televised events since 2013 when Ronda Rousey fought Liz Carmouche in the first-ever women’s UFC fight.
UFC’s The Ultimate Fighter has also prominently featured women. The recently completed 32nd season of the ESPN Plus-distributed reality show, where 16 male and female prospects fight in an elimination tournament, was coached by UFC stars Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko.
The show’s 30th season also featured two female fighter coaches in Julianna Pena and Amanda Nunes.
Other female fighters such as Professional Fighters League (PFL)-owned Bellator women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg and UFC fighter/two-time Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison are also advancing the awareness and appeal of women’s combat sports.
ESPN VP of acquisitions Matt Kenny said shows like The Ultimate Fighter as well as live, televised fight cards that feature marquee female fighters tend to draw both hard core fans and casual viewers — including women — to the sport.
“Those events featuring female athletes have the ability to cut through the clutter, whether you’re a diehard mixed martial arts fan or not, so we know that it’s going to attract a huge audience,” Kenny said. “We know that combat sports also skews younger, so there’s so much that we’re bullish on with respect to the category.”
Women fighters are scheduled to appear in several high-profile events through the fall. Along with Netflix’s November Taylor-Serrano boxing match, ESPN’s September 27 fight card will feature as its main event a bout between welterweight champion Sandy Ryan and Mikaela Mayer.
In the octagon, UFC flyweight champion Grasso will defend her belt against Shevchenko as part of the highly-anticipated September 14 UFC 306 in Las Vegas. Also, Bellator’s Cyborg is set to co-headline an October PFL PPV fight card.
It’s inevitable more women combat athletes will gain exposure from marquee televised events, according to Kenny. “The beauty about combat sports is there’s no shortage of compelling storylines, so there’s really no ceiling,” he said. “The women’s division continues to be a prominent aspect of the UFC and we’ve had a number of PPV events on our platforms that have featured women athletes, including Amanda Nunes and Claressa Shields. For us, it’s about covering and celebrating the absolute best in the sport.”
Popularity Outside the Ring
The growing interest in female combat sports athletes can also be seen on screens big and small. Movies like Netflix’s 2021 Halle Berry starrer Bruised and documentaries like HBO’s 2024 The Unbreakable Tatiana Suarez have chronicled the lives of both fictional and true-life fighters.
This December, MGM’s film The Fire Inside will follow boxing champion Shields’ life through her difficult childhood to her eventual gold medal-winning performance in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Shields would also win gold in 2016.
The growing interest in all women’s sports, including the WNBA, softball and soccer, has helped lift the profile of women combat sports beyond the ring and octagon, said Mark Taffet, Shields’ promoter.
“The values of society have changed and progressed, and that has created opportunities for these talented athletes to excel within the sports and entertainment space,” Taffet, a former HBO Sports executive, said.
