Women’s MMA is heating up and one woman who came out swinging on Friday night was Sheila Gaff.
The 125lb flyweight caused controversy at Cage Warriors’ Fight Night 4 when she ignored opponent Jennifer Maia’s offer to touch gloves — considered a sign of respect — and instead launched at her opponent with a furious flurry of moves.
Check out the video below:
Several MMA media outlets, including MMAFighting.com, have raised the question of whether Gaff was being fair or playing foul.
What do you think?
7 Comments
at 4:48 pm
Was it a classless move? Probably- but Rule #1 is to protect yourself at all times during the fight. If you want to touch gloves, do it after the ref gives the instructions before the bell, not after the bell rings to start the fight.
at 5:00 pm
well in a way that was really intelligent…But rather unfair in a way
jeremycanrana Reply:
March 19th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
*rather unfair in another
at 6:23 pm
i agree wtih wi75. they touched gloves once .theres no need for a second one. it was fair but unexpected. protect yourself at all times.
at 7:03 pm
I dunno. It seems like Sheila was to invested in the fight. It didn’t come off intentional. For that, I would dismiss it. I just think you can fight and win respectively, there’s no need for unfair advantages. It is what it is and it’s all a atter of interpetation. Here’s to the next fight!!
at 7:42 pm
Usually, fighters touch gloves before they start throwing down even if they have touched gloves when the referee is giving in-ring instructions. This is a sign of respect. MMA is different from boxing in that fighters respect each other a lot in most cases. Sometimes, the fighters gesture to each other before the bell if they want to come out and touch gloves. They didn’t do that here. I don’t think Sheila was playing dirty – I think she just wanted to come out guns blazing and she misinterpreted her opponent wanting to touch gloves or she didn’t process it.
This wasn’t the first such occurrence and it probably won’t be the last. This wasn’t the worst such occurrence I have seen either. Of course, the rule says protect yourself at all times. But the rules don’t always back the spirit of MMA and it is up to the individuals to do so.
at 10:00 pm
All I know is, I agree with the top comments on Youtube