UFC women's division 'absolutely going to happen,' White says

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/mma/10/23/ronda-rousey-ufc/index.html



Ronda Rousey, the most dominant female fighter in MMA, could be its most historic, too.

UFC president Dana White tells SI.com he's working on a female division of the UFC, largely because of Rousey's influence.

"It's absolutely going to happen," White said Tuesday of the women's division.

The inclusion of women in the sport's highest ranks is an about-face for White, who had long rejected the idea of a women's division, deriding the quality of fighting and the depth of competition in the female ranks.

White attributes his reversal to Rousey, 25, who has beaten each of her nine opponents -- three amateur, six professional -- with a devastating armbar in the first round. Only one opponent, wrestling specialist Miesha Tate, endured longer than one minute in the cage with the Strikeforce bantamweight title holder and 2008 bronze medalist in judo.

White says no time frame is set for the new division. Rousey's transition to UFC, White says, "could happen tomorrow, it could happen a year from now."

Rousey's manager Darin Harvey says, "Nothing is immenient. She's a Strikeforce champion not a UFC fighter. We still have three fights left for Strikeforce."

Regardless of the time frame for the women's division, White says, "The point is I'm committed to this."