White: Women in UFC ‘best decision I ever made’

In January of 2011, outside the famed Beverly Hills restaurant Mr. Chow’s, a TMZ reporter engaged UFC president Dana White in some amiable banter, asking “When are we going to see women in the UFC man?”

A grinning White replied succinctly.

“Never,” said White. “Never.”

However, as White frequently says, “Never say never.” As is widely known, White saw star potential in Ronda Rousey and she became the organization’s inaugural women’s bantamweight champion. That in turn led the UFC to the creation of a new women’s strawweight division, with the winner to be crowned at The Ultimate Fighter 20 finale.

In a recent interview with Mike Bohn for MMAJunkie, White offered a radically different take on women in the UFC.

I’m really, really excited and proud of this season, said White. The best decision I ever made was to bring women in.

(The season 20 fighters are) technically unbelievable,. We had two fights yesterday, and both fights were unbelievable. Great fights, really technical. These girls are nasty. I can’t tell you how pumped I am. It’s really fun. There are a few girls on this season that remind me of Rond. They have that killer instinct.

I’m so sold on women fighting. Years ago, this whole thing started, and look at how much it’s evolved. I look at somebody like Ronda Rousey, and she is so empowering to women and to little girls.

I was at dinner last night with the whole cast of ‘The Ultimate Fighter 20,’ and I was telling them that this table could get up and clean out this casino right now. And these girls are 115 pounds. This season of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is unbelievable. I’m so happy that I made the choice.

TUF 20 debuts on Sept. 10 at 10 p.m. ET (7 p.m. PT) on FOX Sports 1. UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis and No. 1 contender Gilbert Melendez serve as coaches on the season, which finished shooting this week.