Combat Press Women’s MMA Rankings: February 2018

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.

1. Cris “Cyborg” Justino (1)
2. Julia Budd (2)
3. Germaine de Randamie (4)
4. Megan Anderson (3)
5. Charmaine Tweet (5)
6. Talita Nogueira (6)
7. Arlene Blencowe (7)
8. Felicia Spencer (9)
9. Ediane Gomes (8)
10. Amber Leibrock (10)

Top prospect Felicia Spencer earned another win to maintain her undefeated record. Spencer scored a decision over Akeela al-Hameed at Invicta FC 27. None of the top-10 featherweights are slated for action in February, but there are some rumblings heating up of an eventual superfight between Cyborg and UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes.

1. Amanda Nunes (1)
2. Valentina Shevchenko (2)
3. Holly Holm (3)
4. Ronda Rousey (4)
5. Raquel Pennington (6)
6. Julianna Pena (5)
7. Cat Zingano (7)
8. Tonya Evinger (8)
9. Sarah Kaufman (10)
10. Ketlen Vieira (9)

The only top-10 fighter to compete was Sarah Kaufman, who defeated Pannie Kianzad in the Invicta FC 27 headliner. In February, Valentina Shevchenko returns to the flyweight division, where she’ll take on Priscila Cachoeira.

1. Jennifer Maia (1)
2. Aga Niedźwiedź (2)
3. Vanessa Porto (3 – tie)
4. Nicco Montano (3 – tie)
5. Roxanne Modafferi (4)
6. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (5)
7. Rin Nakai (6)
8. Sijara Eubanks (7)
9. Alexis Davis (8 – tie)/Ariane Lipski (8 – tie)
10. Andrea Lee (9)/Lauren Murphy (10)

The only top-10er in action was Vanessa Porto, who defeated Mariana Morais in a quick turnaround. In February, Japanese ace Rin Nakai looks to further her run up the rankings when she takes on unknown Korean Young Ji Kim.

1. Rose Namajunas (1)
2. Joanna Jędrzejczyk (2)
3. Jessica Andrade (3)
4. Claudia Gadelha (4)
5. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (5)
6. Tecia Torres (6)
7. Carla Esparza (7)
8. Michelle Waterson (8)
9. Felice Herrig (9)
10. Cynthia Calvillo (10)

None of the top-10 strawweights competed in January, but there is a big fight coming up in February. Jessica Andrade looks to punch her ticket for a UFC title shot when she takes on the rapidly rising Tecia Torres. The winner could be in line for the winner of the rematch between current champ Rose Namajunas and former titleholder Joanna Jędrzejczyk.

1. Ayaka Hamasaki (1)
2. Seo Hee Ham (2)
3. Jinh Yu Frey (3)
4. Herica Tiburcio (4)
5. Mina Kurobe (5)
6. Julia Jones (6)
7. Naho Sugiyama (7)
8. Ashley Cummins (8)
9. Amber Brown (9)
10. Kanna Asakura (10)

Ashley Cummins was able to defeat Stephanie Alba at Invicta FC 27. In doing so, Cummins continued to push her stock up as an atomweight.

---

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.