After five male kumite events (with their sixth happening this weekend), Third Coast Grappling will be hosting their first female kumite event for 3rd Coast Grappling: Kumite VII.
The promotion announced yesterday that their seventh kumite event will feature an -160lb eight-woman gi tournament, with the grand prize being $10,000 — the same as has been offered for the men’s 3CG kumite tournaments. Though the promotion has hosted multiple female superfights throughout their kumite series, this will be the first time the tournament will have women competing in the tournament portion of one of their kumite events.
Presently, 3CG promotor Ryan McGuire has told the Jiu-Jitsu Times that Andressa Cintra, Luiza Monteiro, Ana Carolina Viera, and Raquel Canuto are all confirmed competitors on the card, with more competitor announcements to follow as the date for the competition approaches.
McGuire told the JJT that equal pay was important to the promotion in its efforts to form a women’s kumite event. “We have been wanting to do one for a while, but didn’t want to do it unless we found a way to keep the prize the same. We found a way, and at the end of September, we will give out potentially one of the biggest cash prizes for women in a while,” he said.
“We are super pro women’s BJJ, but sadly, the industry as a whole when it comes to business looks at numbers, so their arguments are that women’s BJJ doesn’t bring the eyes and money men’s does, so hard to justify equal pay when economics and numbers are unequal. We found a way to make it work, though. Most don’t try. We have a formula for it to be a great night for Kumite 7. I can pay guys $10k six times, so offering women $5k is insulting. So if we do something, we try and balance the best we can.”
The Jiu-Jitsu Times will provide updates on this event as they become available.
3rd Coast Grappling: Kumite 7 will take place on September 26 and can be streamed live on FloGrappling.
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