Professional sports have always been the target of
feminist activists. Whether it's a question of equal pay, proper representation, glorification of violence and objectification of women. Most "woke" people will probably say that combat sports are the biggest offenders.
I would argue the opposite. Professional combat sports are probably the only professional sport that promotes meritocratic gender equality for both male and female athletes.
The main complaint many activists have with professional and international sports leagues is that female athletes aren't being paid as well as the male athletes (think FIFA, professional tennis, NBA vs. WNBA, etc). Putting aside the fact that male sports leagues have larger audiences than female sports leagues, thus creating more revenue, there is a question of allowing women's sports the same opportunity to earn as much as men's sports.
Mixed Martial Arts promotions like the UFC, Bellator, ONE Championship and PFL have actually solved this problem by having men and women in the same fight cards (not fighting each other of course). In their older pay-per-view business model, the main event fighters who get paid the most are determined by who can put the most butts in seats and have the most people clicking the "Buy" button on their remote controls.
At one point in time, that person in the UFC was Ronda Rousey. In fact, her fight with Holly Holm still holds the highest record in attendance at 56,214 tickets sold. Her pay had nothing do with her gender. She didn't protest to her employer and make hashtags about getting equal pay as the men. Instead, she used her dominant fighting ability to draw a paying audience and made millions of dollars for herself.
When Rousey retired from the sport, the organization had trouble selling the same amount of pay-per-view fight cards with any other headline fight, male or female. It wasn't until Conor McGregor showed up on the UFC scene that we've seen similar numbers.
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) promotion actually took this "equal pay for equal work" ideal to another level. Instead of simply using drawing power, this league actually created a regular season that gives fighters a chance to win playoff spots similar to the NFL, the NBA or the NHL. They are then seeded into a playoff-style tournament for each weight class, where the winners of each weight is crowned that season's champion. Every champion from each weight class (both men and women) each win $1 million.
Of course, mid-card and under-card fighters don't get paid as well as the main-eventers, but then again, they are all pretty equally underpaid.
Whether it's by equalizing main-event and championship fighters' pay or by counting the number of tickets sold, the bottom line is the same. Whether you're a man or a woman, your earning potential in combat sports won't be determined by your gender. That's better than any other professional sport when it comes to the so-called gender pay gap.
I would argue the opposite. Professional combat sports are probably the only professional sport that promotes meritocratic gender equality for both male and female athletes.
The main complaint many activists have with professional and international sports leagues is that female athletes aren't being paid as well as the male athletes (think FIFA, professional tennis, NBA vs. WNBA, etc). Putting aside the fact that male sports leagues have larger audiences than female sports leagues, thus creating more revenue, there is a question of allowing women's sports the same opportunity to earn as much as men's sports.
Mixed Martial Arts promotions like the UFC, Bellator, ONE Championship and PFL have actually solved this problem by having men and women in the same fight cards (not fighting each other of course). In their older pay-per-view business model, the main event fighters who get paid the most are determined by who can put the most butts in seats and have the most people clicking the "Buy" button on their remote controls.
At one point in time, that person in the UFC was Ronda Rousey. In fact, her fight with Holly Holm still holds the highest record in attendance at 56,214 tickets sold. Her pay had nothing do with her gender. She didn't protest to her employer and make hashtags about getting equal pay as the men. Instead, she used her dominant fighting ability to draw a paying audience and made millions of dollars for herself.
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| The UFC's record for highest-attended event headlined by two amazing badass women: Rousey vs. Holm |
When Rousey retired from the sport, the organization had trouble selling the same amount of pay-per-view fight cards with any other headline fight, male or female. It wasn't until Conor McGregor showed up on the UFC scene that we've seen similar numbers.
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) promotion actually took this "equal pay for equal work" ideal to another level. Instead of simply using drawing power, this league actually created a regular season that gives fighters a chance to win playoff spots similar to the NFL, the NBA or the NHL. They are then seeded into a playoff-style tournament for each weight class, where the winners of each weight is crowned that season's champion. Every champion from each weight class (both men and women) each win $1 million.
Of course, mid-card and under-card fighters don't get paid as well as the main-eventers, but then again, they are all pretty equally underpaid.
Whether it's by equalizing main-event and championship fighters' pay or by counting the number of tickets sold, the bottom line is the same. Whether you're a man or a woman, your earning potential in combat sports won't be determined by your gender. That's better than any other professional sport when it comes to the so-called gender pay gap.
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