Many female grapplers have lent their voices to the debate concerning the president of Metamoris Ralek Gracie’s comments that signing more women is not financially viable. He went on to state that with the exception of Ronda Rousey, women fighters are unlikely to demand the kind of attention needed to bring in sufficient revenue through pay per views and the like unless they are physically attractive. Many of the female grapplers interviewed expressed disappointment at his comments, with many saying that it is a shame women are seen as weaker fighters and are not respected in the sport unless they are cute. Here are some of their comments:
– “Honestly I think it was kind of disrespectful”
– “I think it’s unfortunate, the perspective that he has about women in jujitsu”
– “I was very angry. I don’t believe in anything that he said”
– “I really felt…not offended…but disappointed”
There were also women who practice BJJ who did not necessarily express shock, disappointment or even outright disagreement with Ralek Gracie’s views. Some were sympathetic and understanding with one female fighter noting that:
– “…He is trying to promote the sport, but he is also trying to promote a business, and if you only have six fights on the card, if you’re being real, having one of those be a female match is not gonna bring as much money as male matches”
– “I get that women jujitsu has a long way to go before we can start bringing in that money…”
The female grapplers also went on to mention female fighters that they would like to see in a match up. Several under the radar fighters were mentioned with the names Gabby Garcia, Mackenzie Dern and Ronda Rousey being mentioned more than once. One coach even pitted Gabby Garcia and Ronda Rousey against each other for a match up. Approximately 70% of the women interviewed mentioned that they would not be watching Metamoris this year and instead support the boycott. In a final word, the women requested at the very least an apology from Ralek, and more support for the female fighters in the sport.
