Bas Rutten: 'Gonna Have to Admit the Ladies Are Here to Stay'

Georges St-Pierre might not be a huge fan of women's MMA, and Invicta FC 4 might have been an utter catastrophe from a sales perspective. One guy who had a great time this past Saturday, however, was former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten. At Invicta 4, Rutten had this to say:

"

“The ladies are here to stay. All the fights that went to decision, they were action-packed...There was non-stop action and the girls come in in-shape. I did some interviews with them, and the minimum amount they train is three to four hours a day. I had girls that said they train eight to eleven hours a day...when you see them fight, you see it's really like that. It's just constant pressure, constant action.”

"

Even though the UFC has officially picked up women's MMA, and has current UFC (and final Strikeforce) women's bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey headlining February's UFC 157 card in a bout against Liz Carmouche, the idea still hasn't caught on with many fans. UFC President Dana White, until August 2012, was openly against women ever fighting in the UFC, and once flatly said that women will “never” fight in the promotion.

While White has since softened on women fighting, the entire idea remains a hard sell for many fans. This has made life even more difficult for Invicta FC, a promotion whose core selling point is that it exclusively features women fighting.

Invicta held its fourth event this past weekend. The fights, obviously, delivered. However, because the promotion still lacks a TV deal, the promotion has been broadcasting its events live over the Internet.

It attempted to make the main card available via pay per view over the live streaming sight Ustream.tv. Unfortunately, technical problems with the website made the event unwatchable for many fans and forced the company to refund the money of those who ponied up.

While the event had its share of trouble, Bas Rutten remains a high-profile figure in the MMA world, courtesy of his work as a commentator for Pride FC, smaller MMA events and, most recently, World Series of Fighting. His endorsement means something.

Naturally, it won't convert many naysayers. Still, Rutten is a good fan to have in your corner.