With the growing popularity of women’s MMA, it is important to recognize these women with a rankings system similar to the men. Between the UFC’s inclusion of a bantamweight division, its addition of a strawweight division, its recent announcement of a flyweight division and the all-female promotion of Invicta FC, more and more women are being exposed to casual and hardcore fans alike. Every month, Combat Press compiles the staff’s individual rankings from featherweight to atomweight to create the Combat Press Women’s MMA Rankings.
- Cris “Cyborg” Justino (1)
- Julia Budd (2)
- Germaine de Randamie (3)
- Megan Anderson (4)
- Charmaine Tweet (5)
- Latoya Walker (6)
- Felicia Spencer (NR)
- Gabrielle Holloway (9)
- Ediane Gomes (10)
- Amanda Bell (NR)
Dropped from the rankings: Daria Ibragimova (7), Helena Kolesnyk (8)
There were a couple of big moves in the month of July. Cyborg continued to stamp herself as the greatest female fighter in history when she claimed the vacant UFC featherweight title by besting former Invicta FC bantamweight champion Tonya Evinger with a third-round stoppage. It could set up a huge featherweight title defense against Holly Holm in the future. Spencer and Bell both jump into the rankings with wins in July. Spencer was able to score a victory over Amy Coleman under the Invicta umbrella, while Bell beat Brittney Elkin in the Bellator promotion. In August, Bell gets a quick turnaround when she takes a late-notice bout against Talita Nogueira in the aforementioned Bellator.
- Amanda Nunes (1)
- Valentina Shevchenko (2)
- Holly Holm (3)
- Ronda Rousey (4)
- Raquel Pennington (5)
- Julianna Pena (6)
- Sara McMann (7)
- Cat Zingano (8)
- Liz Carmouche (9)
- Tonya Evinger (10)
The bantamweight division was dormant in July and looks to be the same way in August. Nunes was supposed to defend her belt against Shevchenko, but illness on fight day scrapped that important bout. It has been rescheduled for September’s UFC 215 event.
- Jennifer Maia (1)
- Agnieszka Niedźwiedź (2)
- Vanessa Porto (4)
- Roxanne Modafferi (3)
- Rin Nakai (5)
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (6)
- DeAnna Bennett (7)
- Sarah D’Alelio (8)
- Andrea Lee (9)
- Kalindra Faria (10)
The flyweight division had nothing going on for the month of July, and it looks to be equally as quiet in August. Lee was scheduled for a Legacy Fighting Alliance title defense, but the fight was scrapped with no time to find a replacement.
- Joanna Jędrzejczyk (1)
- Claudia Gadelha (2)
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz (3)
- Jessica Andrade (5)
- Rose Namajunas (4)
- Michelle Waterson (6)
- Randa Markos (7)
- Carla Esparza (8)
- Tecia Torres (10)
- Cynthia Calvillo (NR)
Dropped from the rankings: Joanne Calderwood (9)
The strawweight division is constantly changing due to the competitiveness and talent level, which is why it’s the most exciting division in women’s MMA. Calvillo knocked Calderwood out of the rankings and took her spot in the top 10 after beating Calderwood on the latter’s home turf of Scotland. Torres turned a late-notice opportunity into a huge win when she took out Juliana Lima at The Ultimate Fighter 25 Finale. In August, the only top-10 fighter in action will be Randa Markos, who enters enemy territory to take on Mexico’s Alexa Grasso.
- Ayaka Hamasaki (1)
- Jinh Yu Frey (2)
- Herica Tiburcio (3)
- Seo Hee Ham (4)
- Janaisa Morandin (5)
- Julia Jones (6)
- Tessa Simpson (8)
- Mina Kurobe (7)
- Naho Sugiyama (9)
- Ashley Cummins (10)
Frey reasserted herself as the top contender to Invicta FC atomweight champion Hamasaki with another key win. At Invicta FC 24, Frey took out the streaking Cummins. No top-10 fighters are currently scheduled to throw down in August.
Editor’s Note: Fighters are eligible to be ranked if they have competed in the last 18 months. Any fighter that chooses to switch weight classes will be ranked in their previous weight class until they have competed twice in their new division.