Why has women's MMA gone so quiet?

Last weekend's UFC Fight Night card in Abu Dhabi had one (and maybe only one) thing in common with the UFC White House event last month: zero women's bouts.

>The other big UFC event of the summer — Conor McGregor's ill-fated return at UFC 329 — had only one women's fight, way down on the early prelim portion. Of the 24 UFC events so far this year, nearly one-third have been totally devoid of any women's MMA. Of the events that did include at least one women's fight, those bouts were relegated to the prelims more than half the time.

>Women haven't headlined a UFC event since January 2025 (Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas at a UFC Fight Night in the Apex), and are not currently slated to main event any of the events already slated for this year.

>In fact, there have been zero women's title fights in the UFC since November of last year, when flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko defeated Zhang Weili. There's currently only one scheduled for this year, with Dern set to defend her strawweight title against Gillian Robertson at UFC 330 next month.

>"It definitely feels like there's a lull, right?" said Brian Butler, whose management company, Sucker Punch Entertainment, manages multiple female fighters, including former UFC champ Rose Namajunas. "I really can't put my finger on what it might be, but it just seems very quiet right now and I'm not sure what the reason is."

>Lull. That's the word just about every person I spoke with for this story used to describe the current state of women's MMA. There's a stillness. A lack of energy and enthusiasm and forward momentum.

There has been zero UFC women's title bouts in the eight months since Shevchenko vs. Zhang.Cooper Neill via Getty ImagesIt's not just about the lack of action, though. There's also a notable lack of anticipation. Ask most fans to name a women's bout they're really looking forward to real now, and you might get a blank stare. The only matchup that seems capable of generating any real excitement at the moment is UFC women's bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison taking on former two-division champ Amanda Nunes — and that fight still hasn't been booked, with Harrison still recovering from neck surgery.

>It's not as if there's no fan appetite for women's MMA. The MVP MMA card on Netflix in May peaked at around 17 million viewers during the main event bout between former UFC champ Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano. But those were both big names from bygone eras of the sport. Both also seemed very content to take their money and disappear again, leaving the MMA world again without any major drawing power on the women's side of the sport.

>"It's interesting that we're seeing this big push in general for women's sports," said Tiago Okamura, who manages multiple women's fighters, with a particularly focus on Brazilian talent. "Like women's basketball, it's probably at an all-time high in popularity right now. In MMA there's not as much action right now, even though the UFC has been one of the biggest supporters of women's sports. I mean, you can say whatever you want about the UFC, but it's the only sport where the women make the same money and get put on the same platform as the men."

>Okamura pointed to Dana White's Contender Series as a good indicator for the general direction things are headed in the UFC. The last season of the show, which ran from August to October of 2025, included only two women's bouts. Okamura represented the two winning fighters in those bouts, but all four women were signed to UFC contracts.

>"So the talent is there," he said. "The level of competition overall is very good."

Jeisla Chaves reacts after a split decision victory over Sofia Montenegro on Contender Series. Both women earned UFC contracts for their performances.Chris Unger via Getty ImagesOne piece of this larger puzzle is the ongoing hibernation phase of Invicta FC, the all-women's fight promotion founded by Shannon Knapp in 2012. Invicta put on more than 50 events in its first decade of operations, featuring nothing but women's fights. But in 2021, Invicta was acquired by Anthem Sports & Entertainment, which also owns TNA Wrestling, and soon after the pace of events slowed. Invicta hasn't promoted a live event since May 2025, which inevitably means fewer opportunities for women's fighters to compete, get paid and get seen.

>It's an issue Knapp has been working on, she said, and she hopes to make some announcements about Invicta's future in the next few months.

>"If you ever believed in the importance of what Invicta provides in the sport as a platform for women, look around now and you'll see it," Knapp said. "We haven't been active for the past year and we're sitting in a spot where there is this lull. You're not seeing the athletes and that talent generated through the sport like it normally is. I think that isn't because the fans don't care. The issue is what it's always been for women, and that's opportunity. When you have fewer opportunities for the athletes to develop, eventually there are fewer stars for fans to connect with. And that's what I see happening across the sport, is that lack of opportunity."

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>Knapp was motivated to form Invicta after Zuffa, the UFC's parent company at the time, purchased Strikeforce in 2011. Knapp had been instrumental in helping to develop Strikeforce's women's division, where fighters like Miesha Tate, Ronda Rousey, Sarah Kaufman, Julie Kedzie and others thrived. After Strikeforce was shut down by its new owners, Knapp said at the time, she decided to form Invicta with a business partner in order to create a permanent home for women's MMA.

>Multiple Invicta champions later went on to standout careers in the UFC. Invicta also hosted fights in weight classes currently not included in the UFC, such as atomweight (105 pounds). But with Invicta out of action for the past year, women's MMA has been missing a part of its overall ecosystem.

>"I don't think that there is a lack of talent," Knapp said. "But I think that when you get to the UFC, you need to already have that experience. You need to have a little bit of star power coming in, so to speak, whether it's in your local market or wherever. You have to have something to propel you, otherwise you just get lost in the crowd. I think that's what missing right now."

>According to manager Oren Hodak, at Knock Out Representation, building a brand and some name recognition is no easy task within the UFC these days. In past eras of women's MMA, fighters have found way to show some individual flair, even when it means dressing up in costumes for weigh-ins or creating a signature look.

>"Now you can really only do it on social media," Hodak said. "Everything else is dictated by the [UFC] uniform. You can't see people really branding themselves, like Chuck Liddell with the 'Iceman' shorts."

Angela Hill became known for her weigh-in costumes early in her UFC career.Jeff Bottari via Getty ImagesHodak said he's tried to lean into the opportunities where they exist. One of his fighters, UFC strawweight Fatima Kline, has used her Instagram to play up what some fans see as a resemblance to actor Anne Hathaway, or to promote "Shark Week" with her own shark-themed stunts. Her lopsided win over Tabitha Ricci at a UFC Fight Night in Oklahoma City earlier this month helped advance her name recognition, making her one of the few active female fighters on the roster who fans have seemed excited about recently.

>"I mean, in this sport we're always looking for stars," Hodak said. "I think part of that is finishing fights, and part of that is just being an outgoing character. Maybe it's a little harder to get that outgoing energy from a lot of the female fighters on the roster now, but also I think the finishing rate overall for them is not too high. You need to create that buzz one way or another, and I think Fatima has what it takes to maybe give the fans some hope."

>That's one thing fans of women's MMA could certainly use. There was time when women's bouts generated a lot of excitement. Rousey's last two UFC bouts both generated more than 1 million pay-per-view buys for the UFC, and she's still one of the only female MMA fighters that even non-fans can name.

>But this sport hasn't seen a phenomenon like her since, and the other women's stars who rose in her wake, like Joanna Jedzrejczyk, have since found their way into retirement. Even the hint of a new star — like top PFL flyweight Dakota Ditcheva, who has been out of action for just over a year now but returns on Friday — feels rare.

>But if there's one thing professional fighting has proven over the years, it's that unique characters abound. Maybe it's just a matter of finding them and giving them the chance to shine. Then it's up to the fans to notice and care.