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)
- Holly Holm (-)
- Megan Anderson (4)
- Charmaine Tweet (5)
- Talita Nogueira (6)
- Felicia Spencer (8)
- Arlene Blencowe (7)
- Cindy Dandois (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Ediane Gomes (9)
Holly Holm has resurfaced in the featherweight rankings after an impressive showing at UFC 225. There, she dominated fellow ranked fighter Megan Anderson to earn the fourth spot. Looking forward to July, the second best featherweight in the world, Julia Budd, will defend her featherweight title in Bellator when she takes on undefeated Brazilian Talita Nogueira. Also, over in Invicta, top prospect Felicia Spencer looks to continue to march up the rankings when she takes on Helena Kolesnyk.
- Amanda Nunes (1)
- Holly Holm (2)
- Julianna Pena (4)
- Raquel Pennington (5)
- Kelten Vieira (6)
- Sarah Kaufman (7)
- Cat Zingano (8)
- Tonya Evinger (9)
- Marion Reneau (10)
- Yana Kunitskaya (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Ronda Rousey (3)
Ronda Rousey’s presence in the bantamweight rankings has finally come to an end, as her inactivity and involvement in the WWE has finally made her ineligible to be ranked. Looking forward, this month will see two top-10 fighters square off in the UFC, as Marion Reneau takes on Cat Zingano.
- Jennifer Maia (1)
- Valentina Shevchenko (2)
- Agnieszka Niedzwiedz (3)
- Vanessa Porto (4)
- Nicco Montano (5)
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (8)
- Roxanne Modafferi (6)
- Rin Nakai (7)
- Sijara Eubanks (-)
- Alexis Davis (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Lauren Murphy (9)
There has been a case of the old switch-a-roo in the flyweight rankings, as Lauren Murphy dropped out of the top 10 and was replaced by the woman who beat her, Sijara Eubanks. Also, Bellator champ Ilima-Lei Macfarlane continued her dominant reign in the company, scoring yet another submission win in her title defense against Alejandra Lara. There are a lot of top-10 fighters squaring off this month, which will do some rearranging in the rankings. Top-ranked Jennifer Maia will finally make her UFC debut when she takes on former UFC bantamweight title challenger Liz Carmouche. Roxanne Modafferi looks to avenge a loss she took earlier in her career when she faces off with Barb Honchak at the TUF 27 Finale. Rin Nakai will make her Rizin debut, as she takes on fellow Japanese fighter Shizuka Sugiyama. Finally, Alexis Davis takes on a surging flyweight in Katlyn Chookagian, who is on the fringe of the top 10 in her own right.
- Rose Namajunas (1)
- Joanna Jedrzejczyk (2)
- Jessica Andrade (3)
- Claudia Gadelha (4)
- Karolina Kowalkiewicz (5)
- Tecia Torres (6)
- Carla Esparza(7)
- Michelle Waterson (8)
- Tatiana Suarez (9)
- Felice Herrig (10)
A pair of rivals squared off at UFC 225 in June, with Claudia Gadelha coming out on top of Carla Esparza in a close bout. In the month of July, former UFC champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will look to get back into the win column when she takes on fellow top-10 fighter Tecia Torres.
- Ayaka Hamasaki (1)
- Seo Hee Ham (2)
- Jinh Yu Frey (3)
- Herica Tiburcio (4)
- Mina Kurobe (5)
- Naho Sugiyama (6)
- Ashley Cummins (7)
- Kanna Asakura (8)
- Amber Brown (9)
- Rena Kubota (10)
No atomweights competed in the month of June, so the rankings remain the same. In July, the Invicta atomweight championship will be up for grabs as third-ranked Jinh Yu Frey takes on Minna Grusander. Also, fellow Japanese fighters Kanna Asakura and Rena Kubota will fight in Rizin in what should be a marvelous display of martial arts.