We’ve been telling anyone who’ll listen for awhile now that womens’ MMA is the next big growth area of the sport and the way things are looking the people at the AFL–who’ve recently signed Tara LaRosa (arguably the top female fighter in the world) and former WWE superstar Bobby Lashley–are looking to sew up most of the top female talent over the summer:

“Signing a Tara LaRosa, that’s setting the foundation for us to do the women’s platform correctly,” Santiago explained. “We’re going out and getting the best in the world to start the foundation.”

Although AFL executives wouldn’t confirm the contract specifics, LaRosa told MMAjunkie.com that her AFL deal could be worth up to $750,000.

And while other organizations, including most notably of late EliteXC, have brought a few women’s matches to the public’s attention, the AFL has plans to expand much further into the female MMA scene. Santiago said the organization will promote matches in the 115-, 125-, 135- and 145-pound divisions.

“We’ve got a lot of other good signings that we’re excited about,” Santiago said. “Four to five of the best in the world will be coming over, (as well as) some other free agent talent that’s over in the female division. We’re looking at signing anywhere from 20 to 30 women over the next 45 to 60 days.”

He goes on to intimate that Kim Couture–wife of some guy named Randy–has also signed with the AFL.

Kudos to them for listening to us and taking womens’ MMA seriously–they still don’t have the most popular female fighter (Gina Carano) or the Savage Science’s *favorite* fighter (Shayna Baszler) but that leaves them a lot of talent to choose from nonetheless.

AFL expects to sign ‘20 to 30′ female fighters @ MMAJunkie