Welcome to the mixed martial arts showdown where contestants leave their inhibitions at the door to brawl in their bras and kick-box in their knickers.
This is the “Naughty ‘n Nice” Lingerie Fighting Championship, the 21st installment of the controversial female fighting tournament.
Combatants take to the arena in a state of undress to slug it out in a UFC-style cage, with a clothed crowd cheering them on as they try to grapple their scantily-clad opponents into submission.
This year all the action took place on June 18 in Nice, California, and it proved to be a fiery affair, with lingerie-modelling fighters giving it their all in an attempt to brawl their way through the high-adrenaline tournament.
The event, which has been slammed for being sexist in the past, is described by organizers as “MMA like you’ve never seen it before.”
The tournament’s website claims that nearly 5 million people tuned in to the 20th edition of the championships, while this year’s showdown was billed as featuring “some of the most exciting match-ups in modern lingerie MMA history.”
Some headline fights this year saw MaiNe “Main Event” Morgan (14-2) taking on Sheila “Crash” Cardinal (9-8), and the biggest event of the tournament pitted reigning LFC Champion Feather “The Hammer” Hadden (19-1) against Allie “Baby Doll” Parks (16-5).
The card also featured some local talent in the form Jessie “El Toro” Santos (8-3), a fighter renowned for allegedly fighting dirty.
Promotion for the tournament described the event as featuring “16 of the most beautiful athletes in the world fighting in nothing but lingerie.”
And the championships didn’t disappoint, with stunning fighters really packing a punch in a series of fiery bouts.
Reigning champion Hadden made her record 20-1 by holding onto her title against defeated challenger Allie “Baby Doll” Parks.
And Morgan beat Cardinal in the other high-profile fight on the night, prompting outrage from Cardinal after her loss was declared.
She was pictured going after her opponent as referees restrained her, following a fiery showdown between the two.
Meanwhile, local fighter Santos grabbed the bull by the horns to claim victory in her bout with Natasha “Rattlesnake” Rodriguez.
The event has been criticized for being sexist in the past, after women’s sports bosses slammed a promo video for the sport earlier this year.
Nicola Miller of the Women in Sport charity said: “What does it say about a sport if the women must be sexualized in order to complete?”
But event organizers and contestants deny any allegations of sexism, claiming women are happy to partake in the event.
The CEO of LFC, Shaun Donnelly, commented on an article criticizing his organization last year.
He said: “While I don’t believe there’s anything sexist about LFC I always find it funny that these stories are always accompanied by as many of our photos as can fit.
“‘Oh, showing women in lingerie is sexist! Here’s a photo. Isn’t it awful? Here’s another.’”
