Shannon Knapp: Female MMA Still Has a Ways to Go

Shannon Knapp, on “Rewind,” discussing whether Invicta would ever battle the UFC over fighters:

“I’m certainly not that kind of a promoter. I’m of the firm belief that if someone does not want to be here, and they have aspirations to do something different, that you certainly never want to keep someone that’s unhappy. I feel like when someone’s unhappy, whether it’s any job they’re doing, it creates such a bad atmosphere. It can really be toxic to the whole company. And I’m just not someone that would step on someone’s dreams to put a buck in my pocket or something like that. But what I will tell you is that the most important thing to me, even with all the hype that’s surrounding the women, I feel personally that we have a long ways to go yet. We still have a long ways to go to really build these divisions and create a solid foundation. So if it were a case that it was going to destroy Invicta or not give it the foundation to move forward to continue to make a difference, because there are a lot of weight divisions that are not very deep … if it were going to damage that or potentially cause a situation that could really affect the opportunities for everybody else, then I might make a decision based on something different than just solely one athlete.”