Female fighters are knocking out the critics - but their derisory pay packets are a low blow

2015 has been an historic year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) - the largest mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company in the world and women have been responsible for a lot of the highlight moments.

Ronda Rousey's defeat of Bethe Correia, Holly Holm's epic upset knockout of reigning champion Rousey and Jedrzejczyk's clinical destruction of Carla Esparza are just a few of this year’s highpoints.

It wasn't that long ago that Dana White, President of the UFC, was stating emphatically that women would never fight under their banner, but he has since made no secret of the fact that Rousey was the reason he changed his mind. In fact, a lot of the respect for women's MMA seems to start and stop with Rousey, but it should extend further.

In an effort to devalue women's MMA it has been said that their fights are at the same level technically that men's were ten years ago. I'm not sure that's accurate, but let's not forget that the first mainstream professional women's MMA fight was only five years ago.

The achievements of these athletes are made even more impressive when you consider the sexism they face when training in male-dominated gyms. Paige Van Zant who trains at Team Alpha Male, recently had a head coach that refused to train women.

After the gym culture, there are the limited opportunities for amateur and pro fights, the pressure to look pretty, the anachronistic and demeaning existence of ring girls and the sexism from fans and even fellow fighters.

Women athletes will keep coming into MMA however because in spite of all of that, it is still one of the best sports for women out there in terms of its respect for the talent present in the women's divisions.

Even the ever-swaggering Conor McGregor had the closest thing to a humble moment ever seen from him when asked if Rousey or himself were the pound-for-pound greatest. He spent a long time complimenting her back muscles and stated that he wouldn't like to be in the clinch with her, before finishing by saying he "had [his] ways to win that fight too".

In terms of pay, as with many industries there is some way to go, but MMA is still the most attractive option for female fighters. Holly Holm was only earning between $1,000 and $75,000 per fight over the course of her pro boxing career, in spite of being the pound-for-pound queen and winning every important belt out there. Her win over Rousey will have netted her well over four times that amount.

But don't be fooled by the big paydays at the top of the game. Fighters at the bottom of the roster - who are much more likely to be women - are likely to net around $30,000 - $50,000 a year in disclosed payouts. Which, after paying their management, coaches and training partners doesn't amount to very much.

What would most attract more women to the sport would be an increase in fighter pay, something that would actually benefit all fighters. Fighter wages represent only around 15% of revenue generated by the UFC, athletes in sports such as basketball, american football and baseball enjoy two to three times as much. This difference can be accounted for by the presence of strong unions advocating for player rights in those sports. However the only prominent voice advocating for this, Jose Aldo, was knocked out cold by Conor McGregor this weekend, a fighter who has always toed the company line. Let's hope the issue itself hasn't been knocked out too.