The UFC added a women's division earlier this year, which was a huge step forward for women in MMA. Bellator had women fighting on their cards from the beginning of the promotion, but news came late Tuesday night that they were dissolving their women's division. Jessica Eye, Jessica Aguilar, and Felice Herrig were released from their contracts.
"I?ve said many times that fighters need to fight and fight often. Given our current focus, we are not in position to provide these very deserving women regular and reoccurring fights on a large platform. And, I felt it was best to let them go and secure options that did. I genuinely wish them the best of luck in their future endeavors and will be rooting for each of them wherever they fight," Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney said in a statement.
Herrig announced on Tuesday she signed with Invicta, the all-women's promotion. She's 4-1 in her last five bouts, and will make an interesting addition to Invicta's straw weight division. Eye and Aguilar are still exploring options of where they will fight next.
Bellator had non-tournament women's bouts from the beginning of the promotion, and held the straw weight tournament to crown a champion in 2010. Zoila Gurgel won it, but they never found her a challenger in her own weight class. Gurgel moved to Invicta earlier this year.
Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/bellator-moves-women-mma-123425229.html
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