Share this post

In this day and age when female fighters are finally coming into their own, and promoters are doing what they can to market a hot commodity, at least one fighter is feeling the sting of abandonment by her promotion. Zoila Gurgel told Shaun Al-Shatti at MMAFighting.com in a interview: "It's been a while since I've heard from anybody at Bellator."

"For my own promotion to kind of diss me like that, it's like, wow. It just puts the icing on the cake," an exasperated Gurgel admitted on The MMA Hour.

And while I don't agree with my fellow journalists' statement that: "In today's testosterone-fueled MMA scene, we've been left with just two major female mixed martial arts champions -- Strikeforce bantamweight Ronda Rousey and Bellator strawweight Zoila Gurgel" - I do agree that Bellator's "marketing approach for both women could not be any more different."

Some fans say Zoila's wins against Megumi Fugii and Jessica Aguilar were flukes, but let's look at her overall record: out of 12 fights, she's only lost to Miesha Tate. Before fighting Fujii and Aguilar, she fought and beat Jessica Penne, Michelle Ould and Rosi Sexton, pretty tough fighters in their own regard.

What do you think - is Zoila right? And should she be attempt to contact Bellator first, before shooting herself in the foot and publicizing her grievances...or maybe she has already?

Please go here to read the entire interview.