Pressure mounts on UFC’S octagon girls
It’s likely to be the biggest combat sports event to ever hit Australasia but could UFC 243 go ahead without octagon girls?
That’s what some Australian politicians are lobbying for ahead of the middleweight unification showdown between Kiwi fighter Israel Adesanya and New Zealand-born Australian Robert Whittaker, according to Yahoo Sports.
The move comes after former Kiwis league player turned boxing promoter Dean Lonergan used men as ‘‘fight progress managers’’’ – aka ring card men – at the Battle of Bendigo in Victoria where Jeff Horn was upset by Michael Zerafa last month.
That came after pressure from politicians and advocacy groups and now the UFC is set to come under the same heat.
Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews, does not want to see octagon girls at UFC 243.
‘‘The [Formula 1] Grand Prix did the right thing in ending the use of grid girls and we encourage other events to make similar moves,’’ a spokesperson for Andrews told the Herald Sun.
Despite being on the same day as the NRL grand final, the eyes of Australasia plus hundreds of millions of combat sports fans around the world will be on the event.
Close to 60,000 people are expected to take in the contest between Whittaker and Adesanya.
Yahoo Sports has reported Lord Mayor of Melbourne Sally Capp is also against the use of octagon girls at UFC 243 in Melbourne on October 6 at Marvel Stadium.
‘‘It’s 2019. Do we really still need scantily clad women to wander around the middle of a fighting ring between rounds? Grid girls are no longer part of Formula One, walk-on girls are no longer part of professional darts – surely it’s time to move on,’’ Capp said.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning
Herald hours before Zerafa’s shock upset of Horn, Lonergan questioned the consistency of those who were lobbying against ring card girls.
‘‘I am disappointed, but I am also responsive. I will replace the three women who were employed to signal the start of each round with men.
‘‘Ironically four women will be fighting tonight. It shows [the protesters’] agenda is more about headlines than equal opportunity,’’ Lonergan said.
The debate over whether ring card, grid or octagon girls are misogynistic or are part of sporting tradition have become more polarising since the #Metoo movement exploded into life in 2017. The UFC did not respond to Yahoo
Sports’ request for comment on the possibility of octagon girls being removed from UFC 243.