The good news for women's MMA is that Strikeforce: Rousey vs. Kaufman brought in Strikeforce's biggest audience for a fight card on Showtime in 2012, attracting an audience of 529,000 viewers.
The not-so-good news is that the next act appears to be complicated.
All signs seem to be pointing toward a superfight between Rousey and former featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, but Rousey is insistent that Cyborg cut down to meet her at 135 pounds, while the champion's manager, Darin Harvey, is discussing random drug testing to keep Cyborg - currently serving out a suspension for performance-enhancing drugs - honest ahead of the fight.
Rousey and Harvey both have their points here, and Santos will need to make some compromises in order to make the fight that could put her back on the map after her suspension. However, if Rousey wants to keep growing women's MMA towards her goal of seeing a women's division in the UFC, the fight with Cyborg is one she probably needs.
The problem that women's MMA is working against as fans and members of the media push for the UFC to add a women's division is the lack of elite female fighters. UFC president Dana White is a big fan of Rousey, and her fights against Kaufman and Miesha Tate have both been successes for Strikeforce, but six fights into her pro MMA career, the 2008 Olympic bronze medalist in judo is almost out of viable challengers.
Of course, given that five of six Rousey challengers have submitted inside of a minute, and none have made it out of the first round, the term "viable challenger" has to be used loosely. However, in order to sell a fight, there needs to be some reason to believe that Rousey will face a challenge. Miesha Tate was the reigning champion. Kaufman was the former champion. Both had experience on their side and established names. Marloes Coenen could be an option if a suitable contract can be worked out (she was cut in last year's dispute with Team Golden Glory), but beyond that, it's pretty much Cyborg or bust.
Expect Cyborg to accept some terms from the Rousey camp. Don't write off the possibility of a catchweight. In the end, expect this fight to get done, sooner rather than later.
