Adele Fornarino sat down with Ring The Belle MMA ahead of UFC BJJ 7 where she is set to face Alex Enriquez in a rematch. During the conversation she spoke openly about the growth of women’s sports, what it means to advocate for equality in Brazilian jiu jitsu and how she responds to those who try to talk down the women’s game.
Adele Fornarino has become one of the more outspoken voices pushing for greater visibility of women in grappling and she was direct about where she stands and why she keeps showing up for it.
“We just want to keep pushing it,” she said. “I think that there’s so much talent there and so many people love watching women’s jiu-jitsu, love watching women’s sport in general. So my job is to be at the forefront and to push for that and just to kind of shut these guys up that are wanting to talk smack about it because like even if they’re talking smack, they’re talking smack because they’re scared to admit that they still watch it and they still enjoy it and we’re out here for everybody.”
That perspective extended to a moment that gained traction on social media when a photo of Adele Fornarino wearing an “everybody watches women’s sports” shirt alongside Sean Strickland circulated online.
“He knows he loves women’s sports. He just needed a little bit of a push in the right direction,” she said. “Like I walk in, the first thing he says is, ‘I can’t wait to watch you compete.’ I know because he wants to watch, he wants to support. He puts on his tough guy mentality, but he’s a tough guy at heart and he wants to support the women. Everybody does. That’s why it’s true. Everybody watches women’s sports. Everybody can talk about it. Everybody can have their opinions, but at the end of the day, they’re watching.”
When the conversation turned to moments like the Alexa Grasso versus Macy Barber match Adele Fornarino pointed to a broader pattern she feels has been consistent for some time.
“It’s not the first time that the women have really been the main attraction, the main event of some of these massive () promotions,” she said.
On the question of people who dismiss women’s competition Adele Fornarino did not step away from the point. She noted that public criticism often contradicts private behavior and that the results tend to speak for themselves when the cards go live and the attention follows.
Her position throughout the interview was consistent, the talent is there, the audience is there and the conversation about whether women’s sports deserve a platform has already been settled by the viewership numbers. The work now in her view is continuing to show up and perform at the level that makes the argument for her.
“Yell it from the rooftops,” she said. “Tell everybody that’s exactly the case. Everybody watches women’s sports.”
