Fighter Corner

As much as I like writing about MMA, I am sad to feel the need to write this particular piece. For the record, I completely enjoyed watching the Showtime EliteXC fight on September 15, 2007. In fact, I ordered Showtime just for that particular event. I was really excited to see Gina Carano fight, as I am entranced by her style and hit accuracy. Furthermore, as a woman who trains in MMA, but may not have the guts to compete, I love soaking in the confidence of women fighters who have those particular guts that I lack. I assumed that Carano's fight would be like any other, but I was dead wrong. Women's MMA is clearly treated differently, and Carano and her opponent, Tonya Evinger, suffered from it.

The moment I realized that the Carano Vs. Evinger fight would be different than the rest was when the Showtime announcers stated that the rounds would be shortened to three-minutes instead of the usual five. Did I miss something? Has it been biologically proven that two women would never have the ability, endurance, and stamina to last a five- minute round? I realize that both women had to sign a contract in order to fight, but isn't it a bit insulting to cut their time like that? No matter, it only took Carano two minutes and 53 seconds to end the fight with her very first submission win.

After the initial shock of the shortened rounds, I watched the camera pan in and out on Carano's father in the audience. While I respect that Carano's father is a famous sports celebrity, he played quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, he seemed to receive more camera time than Carano, herself. As a member of the television audience, I felt like Carano's father was treated like more of a celebrity than the fighter herself. After the fight was over, Carano celebrated her win inside the ring with her trainers and corner-men, but the camera was not on her ... it was on Carano's father, who was running into the cage to scoop up his little girl into his big, strong arms and congratulate her. Carano expressed her confusion during her post-fight interview with Bill Goldberg, saying, "I don't know how that maniac gets in here every time." To be honest, I am not sure why he is allowed in the ring either.

The little differences merely annoyed me, but I realized that the world is just probably not ready to take women fighters seriously. So much so, that instead of writing about Carano's amazing fight and submission win, I am forced to write about the horrible social problems surrounding her fight. The real issue, however, came at about one minute into the first round. While Evinger and Carano were engaging in some ground and pound grappling, Showtime commentator Mauro Ranallo announced that, during Evinger's pre-fight interview, Evinger said that she'd rather make out with Carano instead of fight her. This kind of commentary did not give any insights into the ongoing grappling battle between the girls, but rather distracted every man, woman, and child watching across the nation. Bill Goldberg, a smart and reasonable man, stated, "I'm not going to touch that with a 25-foot pole." He knew that the comment was unnecessary and juvenile, and that it added nothing of value to the fight taking place. Ranallo's response to Goldberg? "Well, I'd like to touch it with a 25-centimeter one." There you have it folks, a sexual innuendo during a professional, Showtime, MMA bout. What kind of insight are viewers supposed to gain with a comment like that? How embarrassing for Carano and Evinger to pour their heart out into a sport, only to have it demoralized by an immature commentator in front of millions of viewers.

While I was looking forward to doing a thorough write-up of the Carano/Evinger fight, I found myself distracted from their strikes and focused on Ranallo's comments instead. I found myself listening intently to Ranallo's every word, and paying little attention to Carano or Evinger. What a way to ruin a perfectly good fight. While one cannot expect women's MMA to receive the same type of attention as men's MMA right off the bat, audiences should expect the two sexes to be given equal ruling and humane treatment. Gina Carano and Tonya Evinger may very well deserve an apology. More so, they deserve to be treated like the trained and skilled fighters that they are. Not treated like a couple of little girls in a slapping match or pillow fight.

Erin