Cris "Cyborg" Santos is not the only one being stripped of her title. On Tuesday, January 10, 2012, any Facebook group or fan pages containing the abbreviation, "WMMA" (women's mixed martial arts) in their title were shut down due to "rights infringement".
Shelley Devine is one of the people impacted by this change. "Okay The WMMA, WMMA Advocates, and other pages devoted to Women's MMA were removed from FB b/c Someone reported our groups as violating their rights...What BS is this? I sent FB a message to get it back up and running but they just removed the entire page without checking. So Annoying!!!! and someone out there is a real @ss!"
As events unfolded, Shelley added, "Guilty till proven innocent! The claim was, I'm unauthorized to have the page! I flippin created it! It seems Everything listed with WMMA in it was removed."
Sam Wilson informed her Facebook fans that she "...had to CHANGE the WMMA to Women's MMA due to infringement."
Shelley created a new page entitled, Women's MMA. So far, so good. No one is claiming rights infringement.
Fans and supporters of women mixed martial arts fighters were using WMMA as a recognizable term for everything related to female MMA fighters.
Marq Piocos from Wombatsports.com did some research. "The women's MMA world is in an uproar over the idea; as several key business people related to female fighting (are) stating that the term 'WMMA' cannot be trademarked."
Concerning her popular page, formally known as "WMMA Advocates", Katrina Belcher, commented on Facebook, "I'm gonna stick w/ FMMA from now on. Well, until the Future Mermaid Masters of America shut me down anyway."
Katrina's new Facebook fan page for female MMA supporters is called FMMA Awesomeness Inc.
You can shut women down, but you can't shut us up
Female mixed martial artists are gaining more attention from different media outlets. Women fighting and training in MMA is interesting enough for major television studios to invest production time, TV time and lots of money into creating shows exploring why women fight.
The latest entry into the pool of women fighting documentaries comes from the Nat Geo channel. They are presenting "Women's MMA Fighting (video preview)" on their "Taboo" show scheduled for January 17th.
I wrote about Tisha Rodrigues and Jill Valenzuela when the Taboo production team visited them, Two amateur MMA fighters to appear on NatGeo's "Taboo": Fan reaction .
I really enjoyed watching the BBC Four channel's one hour show called "Cage Fighting Women" about British professional MMA fighters, Rosi Sexton and Lisa Higo. Here's more information with an update from Lisa Higo, Before Gina Carano's 'Haywire', There's 'Cage Fighting Women.
Amber Lyon from CNN interviewed professional MMA fighter, Michelle Gutierrez for her "Fighter Girls" segment for "CNN Presents". You can read about Amber's experience here, Interview: CNN Correspondent Amber Lyon Investigates MMA Fighter Girls.
An amateur MMA female fighter who suffered severe injury was investigated along with male amateur MMA fighters. I previewed that show in 'Vanguard' Explores Violence in America (and in the Church) on 'Cage Fighting in the USA'
Lastly, and possibly the biggest boost for women fighting and training in mixed martial arts, there's the most recognizable face of women's MMA, Ms. Gina Carano. Her co-stars love her too. On 'Haywire' Star Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor Says, 'There's Something Incredibly Dangerous and Powerful About Her'
Next Major Event for Female Fighters
The next major female MMA event on March 3rd, is a Strikeforce doubleheader with two female bouts being contested. Rousey vs. Tate for the 135 lbs. championship title and Kaufman vs. Davis to determine (again) who is the next contender in line to face the winner of Rousey vs. Tate.
Tension is high amongst all of these fighters because Ronda Rousey is seen as an interloper, pushing her way to the top of the list to face Miesha Tate, the current Strikeforce champion, and bumping Sarah Kaufman, who was next in line, out of contention.
Source: Facebook, Strikeforce.com
Cheryl Ragsdale started out boxing and has added kicks and BJJ so she can practice MMA. She trains with Keith Florian and UFC Fighter Kenny Florian at Florian Martial Arts - follow @thatgirlisfunny
