Will there be women in the UFC?

So by now we all know that UFC parent company Zuffa purchased Strikeforce over the weekend. Reports indicate they paid $40M mainly because Silicon Valley Sports Entertainment wanted out of the MMA business. Scott Coker tried to put on a brave face at Monday's press conference but I'm sure he is very disappointed. Just remember he got $15M in the deal. Zuffa said that Strikeforce will continue operating for now. Their current contract with Showtime runs until early 2012 with an option to extend until 2014. I wouldn't be surprised if Zuffa tried to buy out the Showtime deal before then and some of the contracts are sold to M-1 Global as they still have a deal with Showtime. That Coker is still there is funny. Strikeforce is a lame duck and so is he. He should have taken the money and left. It 's not like he can start a new company. He has a non compete clause if he leaves. So what will happen to Strikeforce women's division? If something happens to Strikeforce sooner rather than later, I expect M-1 Global to pick it up. But if Showtime digs their heels in and insists on extending the Strikeforce contract, that changes the dynamic. There is a lot of animosity between Zuffa and Showtime. Look, we all know that UFC head Dana White dislikes women's MMA and doesn't want them in the UFC. But it may not be his decision. He said in the interview on Saturday that the Strikeforce purchase is Zuffa owner Lorenzo Fertitta's deal. White will not be involved in the operation of Strikeforce. Then at Monday's press conference when asked about women's MMA, he said "That's not my deal. That's Scott's deal." That's a non answer that indicates it isn't his decision. Maybe Fertitta has other ideas. If Zuffa wants to be a monopoly, they have to include women's MMA or someone will use that niche to get a TV contract. Remember that niche was used by Gary Shaw to use Gina Carano to raise the profile of EliteXC and get the Showtime deal. Without Shaw, there is no Showtime deal for Strikeforce. Maybe he wants to do that again. Of course it would be a mistake for Zuffa to leave that niche open. But they have made that mistake before. Maybe they don't learn from their mistakes.