WSOF signs Emi Fujino, Ashlee Evans-Smith. Good luck finding qualified opponents

Emi Fujino in white

MMA Junkie reported today that World Series Of Fighting has signed Ashlee Evans-Smith and Emi Fujino. But it doesn't change that unless the WSOF signs several decent fighters in multiple weight classes, they will be a dead end destination for female fighters. Recently they announced that recent signee Jessica Aguilar will face Alida Gray on their Jan. 18 show in Hollywood, FL. They are trying to sell it as a championship match. But fans are not stupid and no one with any sense would think that Alida Gray should be in any kind of championship match. She's 36 years old. Her record is 4-0 but she has never fought on a national level. That's not the resume of a fighter who should be a championship challenger. Emi Fujino is a different story. Her record is 13-7. She started out her career with eight straight wins. Then she lost four in a row. Emi has never beaten anyone ranked above her. So she's a good but not great fighter. The reason WSOF signed her is the deal with PANCRASE and plans to run a show in Japan in May. They need to have Japanese fighters for that show. Instead of trying to sell Jessica vs Alida as a championship match, that could have been saved for Jessica vs Emi in Japan. When a promotion tries to sell a fight as a title fight when the fight is clearly not worthy of a title, it makes the promotion look stupid. Fans have asked me why Emi isn't in Invicta. Their deal is with DEEP JEWELS and she is not exclusive to DEEP JEWELS. And I think she's overrated by some. Ashlee Evans-Smith did us all a big favour by beating Fallon Fox in the CFA 145lb tournament. She plans to fight at 135lb. She's 2-0 so she's not experienced. In my opinion, she would be better off gaining experience against better competition in Invicta. But money talks and no doubt WSOF offered her more money than she could get elsewhere considering her experience. And Invicta may have wanted her to fight at 145lb. With a lot of 135lb fighters fighting elsewhere, I think it will be tough to find her decent opponents. WSOF will be looked at as a dead end unless they sign several fighters in each weight division.