Who Really Built Women's MMA?

TL;DR

The true pioneers of women's MMA were Japanese and early American fighters who competed for almost nothing long before Rousey and Carano brought fame and Netflix money.

Key Points

• 1.Women's MMA traces back to Japan's 1995 LLPW Ultimate L1 Tournament. Held just days after UFC 6, it featured AJW pro wrestling stars and Russian judoka Svetlana Gunarenko, who finished three opponents with neck cranks — predating any Western female MMA infrastructure.
• 2.Becky Levi secured the first sanctioned women's MMA fight in the US at IFC 4. A world-class discus thrower and judoka, she had to fly to Japan first to compete before returning stateside, cornered by Dan Severn, to stop Betty Fagan.
• 3.Jennifer How and Marlo Kunan dominated women's MMA on opposite sides of the world simultaneously. How built a 12-fight win streak in US promotions while Kunan won Smackgirl's inaugural 2000 tournament with a flying armbar; both suffered their first losses within a month of each other in 2004.
• 4.Megumi Fuji compiled a 22-fight win streak with 19 finishes from 2004 to 2010. She simultaneously competed in ADCC, Pan-American Jiu-Jitsu, and World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, and armbarred future UFC strawweight champion Carla Esparza at Bellator before her career ended.
• 5.Gina Carano's Elite XC Destiny Showtime fight in 2007 was the first women's MMA bout on live US television. Promoter Gary Shaw booked her with a 4-0 record specifically to capitalise on UFC's exclusion of women, catapulting her to mainstream stardom.
• 6.Rousey and Carano popularised women's MMA but did not build it. The video argues the foundation was laid by Gunarenko, Rodrina, Levi, How, Kunan, Fuji, Cyborg and others who fought in half-empty halls for little money before the sport had any commercial value.