9. Bring On The Ladies
I'm not talking about sex appeal here, though it doesn't hurt when it comes to attracting casual viewers. What I am talking about is the available talent not already in the UFC. The women's bantamweight fights stole the show in season 18 of TUF. The ratings were routinely higher for the female fights than for the males. That tells you something. And it's not just that we like to watch girls fight. Fight fans are made up of both genders, just like fighters. The thing is, with women's MMA in a breakout period, there's more available talent out there. That means better fights. Thus far in the UFC we're used to seeing the bantamweight division that first took off in Strikeforce, along with a healthy dosage of fighters who have worked their way up through Invicta. There's still lots of talent out there however, in the bantamweight division and outside it. The UFC is paying attention, and has chosen to do bring in a women's strawweight division; they will introduce it via TUF Season 20. They've signed away a good portion of Invicta's strawweight roster in doing so, meaning there will be some established names in the TUF house. Which bodes well for the quality of fights, and if it succeeds, they should consider both a second bantamweight season, and perhaps bringing in a third weight class for the girls. They don't need to focus simply on Invicta vets either - the regional circuit will no doubt turn up a number of gems; look at the recent Valerie Letourneau vs. Elizabeth Phillips fight for an example. Either way, we need to see more women's bouts, and perhaps another weight class for the girls, in the UFC. They deserve it.