EliteXC President Gary Shaw said today that an all women's mixed martial arts card will happen under the EliteXC banner as soon as the promotion collects a stable of talented female fighters.
"That's something that I'd like to present to the public, a night of women's fights," Shaw said. "I think that would be a major milestone and it'd be good for the sport."
In the meantime, the first EliteXC women's title might happen sometime in the fall with the winner of Gina Carano vs. Kaitlin Young on the EliteXC-CBS card as one of the two contenders. The promotion's first women's belt will represent the 140-pound division.
"There are a lot of women out there that are unhappy. Not with us, because we're the pioneers. We're putting our talk, not just coming out of our mouth, we're acting on it."
HOOKnSHOOT, based out of Indiana, is arguably the real pioneer of female mixed martial arts in America, but the promotion does not regularly promote shows. A new promotion out of California, Fatale Femmes Fighting has jumped into the forefront of the all-female fighting circuit by showcasing a number of local talent mixed in with fighters from Brazil and Japan.
EliteXC will have the deeper talent pool though. In addition to Carano and Young, EliteXC's current roster includes Shayna Bazler, Debi Purcell, Julie Kedzie, Carina Damm and Tonya Evinger.
"I think by '09, you should look for an all women show," said Shaw.
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