Future Stars: Layla Newton

Out of New Jersey, Layla Newton is getting a huge head start.

The 11 year old already has 7 NAGA titles under her with one in kickboxing. dhe has been training out of Team Taino martial arts with Eddy Torres, Yasmeen Salhani, Taylor Samarco and Rell Jefferson for the past 4 year.

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Wombat Sports: What got you interested in getting involved in combat sports?

Layla Newton: I got interested in combat sports by watching the ufc with my dad. I saw Ronda Rousey fighting and I said to my dad girls can do this??? He said girls can do anything they want.

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First Half Stats in the Womens’ Divisions Part 5: Featherweight and Higher Breakdown

Photo courtesy Dave Mandel, Invicta FC

Note: Any fights that were at above 136 for our purposes are considered featherweight. Any fights 142-144 were rounded up to 145. Any fights 137-139 were rounded up to 140 pounds.

The division that has gotten the most flack the past year has been featherweight. While Cyborg Justino has ruled to roost and yet to find a solid challenger, the future maybe looking up.

First Half Stats in the Womens’ Divisions Part 5: Bantamweight Breakdown

Photo courtesy Dave Mandel, Invicta FC

Note: Any fights that were at above 126 for our purposes are considered bantamweight. Any fights 132-144 were rounded up to 135. Any fights 127-129 were rounded up to 130 pounds.

For years, the women’s bantamweight division has been the premier weight class. Things have drastically changed.

First Half Stats in the Womens’ Divisions Part 5: Flyweight Breakdown

Continuing with the weight classes is the quickest growing divisions – flyweight.

Note: Any fights that were above 116 for our purposes are considered flyweight. Any fights 121-124 were rounded up to 125. Any fights 117-119 were rounded up to 120 pounds.

First Half Stats in the Womens’ Divisions Part 4: Strawweight Breakdown

Photo courtesy Dave Mandel, Invicta FC

Continuing with out look at the weight classes, we come to one of the most popular – strawweight.

Note: Any fights that were at above 106 for our purposes are considered strawweight. This includes Rizin’s 108 division. Any fights 112-114 were rounded up to 115. Any fights 107-109 were rounded up to 110 pounds.

There were 192 total fights at the scheduled 115 pound limit (111 pro and 81 amateur).  Fights at a catchweights accounted for 8 fights (4 pro and 4 amateur). The strawweight counted for 29% of all combined fights both amateur and pro and is the most in all divisions.

2018 First Half Stats in The Womens’ Divisions Part 3: Atomweight Breakdown

Photos courtesy Dave Mandel, Invicta FC

There has been huge debates on what women’s weight classes are sustainable or not.

This year I decided to give you a glimpse of the current and future health of the divisions broken down. Since I did both amateur and pro stats this time around, I can give you some insight into what I have been seeing and calm down some worries.

InvictaFC 30 Primer

Very few promotions make it to their 30th event.

Saturday InvictaFC will reach the milestone as it looks to crown a new atomweight champion. Jinh Yu Frey will get her second chance to hold the gold when she takes on Finland’s Minna Grusander.

The co-main event will see a possible contender for the vacant featherweight title as Russia’s Helena Kolesnyk faces Felicia Spencer.

This will also be the promotional debut of former UFC athlete Heather Jo Clark as she faces Brazil’s Kinberly Novaes.

2018 First Half Stats in the Women’s Divisions Part 2: The Amateurs

Photos Courtesy Jorden Curran Photography

I have compiled amateur results over the years, but this has been the first time I have broken down the amateur stats.

It was popular demand and questions about the future health of the women’s divisions that got me to do this for the first year. We will dig into the weight divisions in part 3. I haven’t done this in past years because getting complete results for the amateurs was a hassle, as previously discusses in part 1. I suspect a dozen or so results have not been posted in the major databases, so with expect a small margin of error.

Since this is our first time, we can’t compare past years, but can at least compare the pro stats.

2018 First Half Stats in the Women’s Divisions Part 1: The Pros

Photo Courtesy Dave Mandel, Invicta FC

This year, I decided to dig a bit deeper.

After many questions about the strength of the women’s divisions by fans and MMA pundits, I tabulated debuts after a year absence, as well as added amateur results, which will be expanded upon in part 2 of this three part series.

The third part will dive deeper in each divisions to give you a glimpse of the current health and the future.

Bellator’s Flyweight Division Shines as Ilima-Lei Macfarlane Becomes Breakout Star

(Photo courtesy Bellator)

It was hero’s welcome as Bellator Champion Ilima-Lei Macfarlane went down the escalator at the Pechenga Casino and Resort this past Friday in front of her crowd of family, friends, and fans.

The champ estimated a good sixth of the crowd was there to cheer her on in the first defense of her recently won title. Many women were wearing her signatire flower in their ears to show support. The live fans were not alone in their support, as Bellator announced nearly 800,000 people watched the fight from the comfort of their own homes.

Leslie Smith Talks Future; Championing Fighters’ Rights Movement

It has been a few months since Leslie Smith was let go of her contract from the UFC. The reasons why this happened is one of controversy.

For those who don’t know the story, Smith was scheduled to face Aspen Ladd at UFC Fight Night in Atlantic City, New Jersey in April, but Ladd missed weight. Smith saw this as a break, since her contract with the UFC would be up if she fought Ladd. Smith would agree to fight Ladd at a catch weight if the UFC would extend her contract for one more fight after Ladd, so she could negotiate a new multi-fight deal. The UFC decided to simply drop Smith and pay her out.

Leslie Smith: “A Union Would Benefit the UFC”

With it being the mid point of 2018, Project Spearhead has made some major progress.

The first goal of the organization is to determine the status of the UFC fighters as employees or independent contracts. By definition, there is mounting evidence that they are employees, due to the Reebok fight kits (essentially uniforms), the adherence to a code of conduct, the use of UFC equipment, and a set schedule. Another point is fighters are exclusive to the UFC can cannot fight elsewhere.

If found that fighters are employees, they can organize and form a Fighters’ Association or union, similar to other top sports such as the NFL and MLB.

With the exit of Leslie Smith from the UFC led her to file a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board that she was let go from her contract over heading Project Spearhead pushed the timetable up to render a decision.