Combat Press Women’s MMA Rankings: February 2020

With the growing popularity of women’s MMA, it is important to recognize these women with a rankings system of their own. Between the UFC’s inclusion of a bantamweight division, its addition of the strawweight and flyweight divisions, Bellator’s increasing attention to the women’s side of the sport, 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.

Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from the previous rankings.

1. Amanda Nunes (1)
2. Cris “Cyborg” Justino (2)
3. Julia Budd (3)
4. Felicia Spencer (5)
5. Megan Anderson (6)
6. Arlene Blencowe (7)
7. Pam Sorenson (8)
8. Jessy Miele (9)
9. Talita Nogueira (10)
10. Kaitlin Young (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Holly Holm (4)

After taking another fight at bantamweight, Holly Holm drops out of the featherweight rankings. The month of January was a quiet one for the 145-pounders, but the action will pick up in February. There are two fights at the UFC card in Virginia, where Felicia Spencer takes on Zarah Fairn and Megan Anderson meets Norma Dumont.

1. Amanda Nunes (1)
2. Germaine de Randamie (2)
3. Holly Holm (3)
4. Raquel Pennington (4)
5. Aspen Ladd (5)
6. Irene Aldana (6)
7. Ketlen Vieira (7)
8. Cat Zingano (8)
9. Julianna Peña (9)
10. Yana Kunitskaya (10)

Holly Holm solidified her spot at No. 3 in the bantamweight rankings in a rematch with Raquel Pennington. Holm defeated her opponent by unanimous decision.

1. Valentina Shevchenko (1)
2. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (2)
3. Liz Carmouche (3)
4. Jessica Eye (4)
5. Katlyn Chookagian (5)
6. Jennifer Maia (6)
7. Vanessa Porto (7)
8. Joanne Calderwood (8)
9. Roxanne Modafferi (9)
10. Andrea Lee (10)

Roxanne Modafferi scored a massive upset when she knocked off top prospect Maycee Barber at UFC 246. Modafferi holds steady in the ninth spot in our poll with the win. In February, top-ranked 125er and UFC champ Valentina Shevchenko defends her belt against Katlyn Chookagian at UFC 247. On the same card, Andrea Lee looks to move up the ladder against Lauren Murphy.

1. Weili Zhang (1)
2. Jessica Andrade (2)
3. Rose Namajunas (3)
4. Joanna Jędrzejczyk (4)
5. Tatiana Suarez (5)
6. Nina Ansaroff (6)
7. Claudia Gadelha (7)
8. Carla Esparza (8)
9. Michelle Waterson (tie-9)/Marina Rodriguez (tie-9)
10. Alexa Grasso (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Seo Hee Ham (1)
2. Ayaka Hamasaki (2)
3. Jinh Yu Frey (3)
4. Minna Grusander (4)
5. Ashley Cummins (5)
6. Jessica Delboni (6)
7. Kanna Asakura (7)
8. Rena Kubota (8)
9. Kelly D’Angelo (9)
10. Alesha Zappitella (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged. In February, Jinh Yu Frey will defend her Invicta title against Ashley Cummins at Invicta FC 39. On the same card, Kelly D’Angelo and Alesha Zappitella look to jockey for position at the bottom of the top 10.