”Women will never fight in the UFC” : En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av kvinnlig MMA’s framställning i media

Sammanfattning: ”Never!” That was the answer UFC President Dana White gave when asked when women would be seen in the UFC. Two years later the first fight between two women took place and now there’s more than 50 female competitors in the UFC - an organisation that earlier was reserved only for men. ”Women will never fight in the UFC” – A qualitative content analysis of the depiction of women’s MMA in media is a study which focuses on how women’s MMA and Ronda Rousey as an individual athlete are portrayed in american internet based MMA media, with a gender research perspective. This study also investigates how the introduction of the first women’s division in the UFC might have affected the depiction women’s MMA in media. The theoretical framework consists of gender theory concepts such as gender performativity, the man as norm, sports and masculinity. With this theoretical framework as foundation, a directed content analysis was used as research method. The results of this analysis shows a frequent emphasis on the appearance of female athletes in the material. An attractive woman is preferable, and a muscular and more masculine woman is considered as deviant. Female athletes are constantly in comparison to male athletes, both in a positive sense, when their athleticism or talent is compared, and in a negative sense to downgrade their appearance. It is clear that the man is the starting-point, which the women are compared to. The material shows that before the introduction of a female division in the UFC there were strong concerns about women entering the organisation - would it be received as a positive or a negative change and thus if it was economically sustainable. After the first women’s fight in the UFC, the appearances of the competitors weren’t referenced as frequently in the material as before, and their performances were highlighted in a much higher degree. Ronda Rousey is portrayed as the most important individual competitor in women’s MMA. She’s got “everything”, both the looks and talent. But to some extent her talent is marginalized. A resistance that may be based in the unfamiliarity of seeing a woman in the spotlight of the MMA-world.