Some sickos in the blogosphere are reveling over the beating Kim Couture took on Friday in her MMA pro debut at the Thomas & Mack in Las Vegas. I don't get it.

Couture did draw 8,962 to the T & M for the fight but many left sickened.

It wasn't a good night for MMA and it certainly wasn't a great night for female fighting. Couture, 33, was ill-equipped to defend herself. She suffered a badly broken jaw and bled heavily throughout the fight.

Kim Rose smashed Couture with an overhand right seconds into the fight. That punch may have been the one that split Couture's jaw and broke her nose. I was disgusted and uncomfortable sitting two rows from the ring so I can't imagine watching the fight on the ring apron as photographer Tracy Lee did:

The bell rang and Kim Rose rushed in. With a quick flurry of punches, an uppercut found its mark within 5 seconds and had Couture collapsing on the ground. Referee rushed in, ready to stop the bout, but Couture was able to find her bearings and fight back. For the entire 3 rounds, Dave Mandel and I watched as she fought the fight, but wasn't quite "all there". She took a beating, although didn't ever give up, and fought back and gave a beating of her own.

After all was said and done, we were told that the first uppercut split her jaw in two, and the left side was hanging about a quarter of an inch lower than the right. She fought the ENTIRE fight like that, not quitting or giving up. She took a NUMBER of punches to the face, as well as got caught in a few guillotines that for SURE stressed on her jaw. Even an elbow at the throat pushed against the bone had to be excruciating.

Three issues developed today on Las Vegas sports-talk radio where ESPNRadio1100 took calls on the event and Couture for 90 minutes.

Did her husband Randy make an error by not throwing in the towel? 

Is the Nevada State Athletic Commission at fault for licensing someone as inexperienced as Kim Couture?

Why was this bout fought with three, five minute rounds? We just watched the much more experienced Gina Carano battle Kaitlin Young with three, three minute rounds in place.

There is no better commission than Keith Kizer and Co. in Nevada. So if it erred in allowing Kim Couture to fight, it's scary to think the kind of matches that could be put together with inexperienced female fighters around the country but lesser qualified commissions.

The sport would be obliterated by the mainstream sports and news media if there were ever a female death in the cage or ring. This should serve as a serious warning.

Kim told Fighthype.com, that she will be back.

UPDATE: Bloody Elbow reacted to this fight. The guys over there did bring up a very important point:

{ysp:block}I wanted to add another thought that occurred to me about this fight. Its not so much that this was a woman's MMA fight. This fight should be questioned regardless of the competitors' sex. Anytime a fighter suffers a major fracture the fight should be stopped between rounds. Its one thing for Frank Shamrock to conceal an arm break from his corner for a couple rounds against Cung Le. Presumably the corner had no idea. But I have to think that Kim couldn't talk to her corner after the first round and they should have known that something was very very wrong.{ysp:/block}

Hard to believe the Scott Smith-Robbie Lawler fight at Elite XC was stopped because Smith got poked in the eye. He wasn't given five minutes to recover and the fight was ended. et Kim Couture is allowed to fight for over 14 1/2 minutes with a broken jaw and nose.