Din Thomas thinks something has been missing from women’s MMA in recent years, and he hopes it can come back as big fights loom on the horizon.
It’s now been more than a dozen years since UFC 157 in February 2013, where Ronda Rousey fought Liz Carmouche in the first female bout in UFC history. The time has passed in a flash, and at this rate it won’t be long before women’s fights will have been part of the UFC ecosystem for longer than they were not.
Women have established their place and proven more than worthy of the platform. Holly Holm’s finish of Rousey at UFC 193 in November 2015 remains one of the greatest knockouts and upsets of all time. Zhang Weili’s epic war with Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 248 in March 2020 is a classic that holds up with any octagon battle ever, regardless of gender.
Since women came into the UFC, entire careers have started and concluded. There are multiple females in the UFC Hall of Fame, with more to come. The women’s bantamweight, women’s flyweight and strawweight divisions appear sturdy enough to endure any turbulence in the near future, so there’s an argument that women’s MMA has never been healthier.
Still, though, UFC analyst, commentator and noted MMA coach Thomas thinks the fights don’t have the same edge as in the early years. And as someone who works closely with many elite women, such as Amanda Nunes and Gillian Robertson, he said he can only speculate.
“There was a time where I thoroughly enjoyed watching women’s fights,” Thomas told MMA Junkie. “I coach women, a lot of women. I’m not sure what happened. I’m really not sure what happened to women’s MMA. How it just became so stale. They stopped taking chances. They stopped fighting with their heart. There was a time where women fought with their heart first.
“Maybe now they’re getting too much attention in the gym. Because before they were fighting to get attention in the gym, and they were fighting hard. They would go into the fights and be fighting hard. Now it’s like they go in fights and just stake by. I’m not sure what happened.”
Every division male or female goes through its ebbs and flows. From a positive perspective, the coming months could provide some of the biggest fights women’s MMA has ever seen. Women’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko is already booked to face former strawweight champ Zhang Weili at UFC 322 on Nov. 15, and a marquee women’s bantamweight title showdown between reigning champ Kayla Harrison and women’s MMA GOAT Amanda Nunes is looming for late 2025 or early 2026.
Both those fights have the potential to facilitate great interest, and Thomas just hopes they play out in an entertaining manner.
“(Shevchenko vs. Weili) is a really good fight in terms of what you want to see form an eye test in term of technicality with MMA,” Thomas said. “With that being said, it could turn into a boring fight because of that. Especially with Valentina’s new style. Valentina has adopted this less-risk, safety-first style and that tends to lead to more boring fights. We might see a boring fight in this. For the technicians out there, it’ll be beautiful. But for the fans, we might be on the side like, ‘Yo, hurry this thing up and get to the main event.'”
To hear more from Thomas, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
