Episode 30 – Jennifer McClearen: Female Fighters, Combat Sports, and the UFC

This episode sees feminist media scholar, Jennifer McClearen, share her research insights into gender, mixed martial arts, and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). Our conversation outlines the complex intersections between fighting, skill, violence and the body, the UFC's operation as a transmedia sport empire, and the significance of Ronda Rousey’s celebrity. Other topics discussed include the function of branded difference, labour relations in the UFC, and the queering of loss by trans athletes.