Ladies of ‘The Ultimate Fighter 20’ looking to be first strawweight champion, not next Ronda Rousey

LOS ANGELES — Absent of all that much fanfare, pomp and circumstance, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s women’s strawweight division debuted in July.

Brazilian Claudia Gadelha showcased the skill in victory that has many believing she’ll be a player in the pristine 115-pound division. Tina Lahdemaki demonstrated the fortitude and ability in defeat that showed she could have a bright future, also.

But Gadelha’s unanimous decision over Lahdemaki, which was the opening bout on a UFC Fight Night card in New Jersey and aired via Internet stream on UFC Fight Pass, will likely go down as a trivia answer to the quandary of when the women’s strawweight class debuted inside the caged confines of the UFC?

It is on “The Ultimate Fighter 20,” with the histrionics and hoopla that accompanies reality television and an unprecedented quest for championship glory, that the newest chapter in women’s MMA will truly be unveiled.

“A lot of us, we’ve been waiting a longtime for this opportunity and we’re ready,” said Jessica Penne, one of 16 cast members on the first-ever all-female version of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which airs Wednesdays on Fox Sports 1 at 10 p.m. PDT. “All of these women are the top of the top.”

In the burgeoning universe of women’s MMA as it relates to the UFC and the casual fan, “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey has been the only queen of the cage, trailblazing a historic path of first-ever accomplishments while devastating each and every foe that’s challenged her.

But now, a new division and new champion will be introduced as “The Ultimate Fighter,” for the first time in show chronicle, will crown a titlist upon its conclusion.

“It sweetened the pot for sure,” said Carla Esparza, the first-ever Invicta Fighting Championships strawweight champion and the show’s favorite in many prognosticators’ eyes. “Honestly, even if they didn’t have the belt and they gave me the opportunity, I probably would’ve taken it, because I know it’s gonna be a huge thing for women’s MMA.”

But, at least in the eyes of the handful of cast members gathered Thursday in Los Angeles at a UFC media event, nobody’s striving to become the next Rousey, but rather to make their own way while on a quest to become the newest champion in UFC lore.

“I think you have to be yourself,” said 35-year-old Australian Alex Chambers (4-1), who was joined Thursday by Esparza (9-2), Penne (11-2), Justine Kish (4-0), Angela Magana (11-6), Rose Namajunas (2-1) and Bec Rawlings (5-3). “I mean, Ronda is a superstar and I don’t feel any of us are trying to match up to her. I think we’re trying to be ourselves and just represent our division and women’s MMA as best as we can.”

It’s been less than two years since Rousey debuted as the first-ever UFC women’s bantamweight champion and defeated Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 on Feb. 23, 2013 in the company’s initial women’s bout. The card came with an unprecedented amount of media and hype, much of it shouldered by Rousey, who trains at the Glendale Fighting Club.

Now, it’s the newest crop of femme fatales taking on a media storm that preceded Wednesday’s television premiere.

“I really like it, I’m having a lot of fun,” said the 31-year-old Penne of Huntington Beach, who was the first-ever Invicta atomweight (105 pounds) champion, but moved up in weight for a shot at ‘TUF.’ “How often do people get to have this kind of experience? I’m just trying to soak it all in.”

As a vehicle for introducing North American viewers to the UFC, “The Ultimate Fighter’s” significance cannot be overstated, as UFC President Dana White has often credited the show’s historic first season in 2005 and, in particular, its riveting finale fight between light heavyweights Forrest Griffin and Stephan Bonnar as saving the organization and launching its popularity.

Now, the show will serve as the launching pad for a division in the world of women’s MMA still in its infancy as it relates to competition under the UFC banner.

“I obviously believe in what I’m doing and the strawweight division,” Rawlings, 25 of Australia, said. “No matter what, people are going to love us. We’re all great fighters, we put on exciting fights. I believe in us.”

For her part, Rousey has long been a supporter of the 115-pound division coming on board to the UFC, a decision made due to the class’ depth of talent and also strategically as the addition of a 125-pound or 145-pound class would’ve likely seen the already existent bantamweight (135 pounds) class that Rousey rules have fighters migrate.

“One-fifteen is a stacked division,” Rousey said in June at a UFC presser in advance of her last title defense, an emphatic 16-second stoppage of Alexis Davis on July 5 in Las Vegas. “It’s an interesting division and I’m looking forward to it. I’m glad it already has a lot of depth, it’s not like they have to build it and it definitely takes a lot of pressure off of me having another women’s champion that they can really get behind.”

Rousey, whose appearances as a guest coach for Dominick Cruz and Chael Sonnen were the first by a female fighter on “TUF,” was also the first female head coach on “The Ultimate Fighter,” bringing along GFC head trainer Edmond Tarverdyan, Manny Gamburyan, Andy Dermenjian and Shafir as assistants for a wild ride that saw Rousey pitted against archrival Miesha Tate in “The Ultimate Fighter 18,” which aired in 2013.

That season was historic enough in featuring female fighters, but they only made up half the contestants as half the show was men’s bantamweights and the other half women’s bantamweights.

This season’s all-female cast might be just the first difference from “TUF 18.”

“They seemed like they were holding back. They were scared. We didn’t care,” said Angela Magana of some of the female cast members from ‘TUF 18.’ “We didn’t give a s---. We said what was on our minds, we had the talent, we had exciting fights, we had the sex appeal.”

This season also has UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and future title challenger Gilbert Melendez as coaches, though Rousey’s name and questions about following her lead always loom.

“Ronda Rousey’s her own entity and we’re all our own entity,” Penne said. “Competing for her position I think is unfair to say because she is who she is. We all bring amazing things to the table and we’re all exciting fighters. I think we all bring something else to the table.”

Claims of there being a “next Ronda Rousey” to emerge from the show are likely unfair and unwarranted, but they’re really nothing new. Past cast members such as Phillipe Nover and Urijah Hall exited the show with gigantic hype as possibly being the “next Anderson Silva,” who’s seen by many as being the greatest MMA fighter of all-time.

The true beauty of “TUF 20” might well prove to be that it represents a new division brimming with talent.

Though there’s an argument from some that there’s a dearth of viable challengers remaining to challenge Rousey, many believe the 115-pound division will prove to be far more balanced that its 135-pound predecessor.

“Ronda’s basically up here (puts her right hand above her head) and nobody’s challenged her,” said Magana, who recently stopped by the Glendale Fighting Club along with Chambers and Rawling to train with Marina Shafir. “We don’t have anybody like that. We can all possibly be champions.”

Esparza and Penne are both former Invicta champions and, along with Joanne Calderwood (8-0) and Tecia Torres (4-0), are likely the favorites, with Felice Herrig (9-5) arguably possessing the largest fan following.

“Personally, going into the show, I thought I had the biggest target on my back,” Esparaza said. “I didn’t want to let anybody down and that weighed me down a lot.”

Heather Jo Clark (6-4), Aisling Daly (14-3), Lisa Ellis (15-8), Angela Hill (1-0), Emily Peters Kagan (3-1) and Randa Markos (4-1) complete a cast full of competitors that have fought in the likes of Invicta and Bellator, with some owning wins over current UFC talent.

In addition, Gadelha and Joanna Jedrzejczyk, the winner of the second-ever UFC strawweight bout, are favorites to be top-ranked fighters in the UFC rankings. Of course, they won’t have the notoriety that will no doubt accompany the newest cast of ultimate fighters.

“I think it really sunk in when I saw a photo of myself on a subway train. I’d never been in a subway before and there’s a huge picture of me,” Rawlings said. “Once it airs and my face gets plastered all over Fox Sports, I’ll definitely get recognized more. And that’s cool.

“Definitely, I think it’s gonna get crazy for all of us.”

Though arguably some of the division’s top talent, such as Japan’s Mizuki Inoue and World Series of Fighting champion Jessica Aguilar, is not currently with the promotion, this season’s version of the long running program offers more established, highly-regarded talent than perhaps any other season.

Just about every prior season has followed the premise of seeing burgeoning combatants compete for their shot under the bright lights of the UFC. While all the ladies on the current cast are clearly doing that, the season is no doubt serving the larger purpose of introducing an entirely new division, while growing women’s MMA.

“I think most of us feel the extra pressure,” Chambers said. “I just think as females in the sport, we feel that extra pressure to, I don’t know, prove we belong in the sport.

“I think we need to show this division belongs and I’m pretty sure we did that.”

Tapings for the show concluded in mid-August, but as it relates to the viewer, the next chapter in women’s MMA, and the largest step thus far by the UFC in seeing how it fares without Rousey fighting or others competing with the goal of facing her, is now set to play out every Wednesday evening.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet for a lot of us because it hasn’t aired yet,” Magana said. “It’s a delayed gratification.”

Added Esparza: “This is a huge step for women’s MMA.”

Perhaps the outlook going forward in regards to being “the next Rousey” might well have been best illustrated by Rawlings, who’s introduced as “Rowdy” Bec Rawlings.

“Ronda is amazing and I don’t feel anybody can be the next Ronda,” Rawlings said. “I’ve got to be the first me. I want people to say I want to be the next Rowdy Bec.”