Opinion: Time for an UFC-Invicta Merger

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.*** It wasn’t long ago that the conversation about women’s divisions in the Octagon started and ended with one word: never. Of course, a lot has changed since then — namely, Ronda Rousey happened — and now with the successful expansion of the strawweight division and solid showcase bouts at 125 and 140 pounds, the arguments that women’s divisions are untenable or uninteresting are dumber and more transparently antiquated than ever. The audience for female fighting is very real, and it’s continuing to grow as the quality of competition improves. That makes sense; mixed martial arts is now a legitimate option for female martial artists and athletes who otherwise had few avenues to pursue. The early days of the Ultimate Fighting Championship provided similar opportunities for non- and post-Olympic wrestlers, as well as fighters outside the pure boxing spectrum, so long as they were the appropriate gender. In all fairness, up until the last several years, there really wasn’t much of a place for female fights outside of niche audiences, but now that is demonstrably not the case. There is a discernible relationship between the exposure of women fights and the demand for them, and as increased exposure creates more financially viable opportunities, the quality of fighter will improve, in turn catalyzing more invested and likely larger audiences. It’s as simple a growth opportunity as there is in modern MMA. Valentina Shevchenko took four out of five rounds on each scorecard against former boxing and UFC champion Holly Holm on Saturday in Chicago, continuing the trend that Holm herself started when she kicked the women’s bantamweight crown off Rousey’s head. Since then, Holm lost the belt to Miesha Tate, who then lost it to Amanda Nunes. With Holm’s second straight loss, as R.J. Clfford pointed out, UFC women’s bantamweight champions and former champions are now 0-4 since UFC 193. At this point, it’s hard to call these upsets anymore, at least not in the sense that a lesser fighter beat a superior foe. Rather, each of the losses at the top happened in ways that, when considering the style matchups, were reasonable, if not expected. If anything, parity at the top is typically a sign of a healthy division. There is no question that the 135-pound division is better than ever with several bankable stars on deck; and with Joanna Jedrzejczyk putting together what looks like the beginning of a transcendent championship reign at 115 pounds, the state of women’s MMA is better off than it has ever been. Thus, it begs the question: When will the UFC absorb the Invicta Fighting Championships roster? Invicta has been a marquee organization for women since its first event in 2012. At that time, Strikeforce — which was the only major player with women’s divisions — …

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