Combat Press Women’s MMA Rankings: November 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 weight classes from strawweight up to featherweight, 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 (4)
5. Megan Anderson (5)
6. Cat Zingano (6)
7. Arlene Blencowe (7)
8. Pam Sorenson (8)
9. Jessy Miele (9)
10. Talita Nogueira (10)

Cris “Cyborg” Justino keeps her Bellator featherweight championship and her No. 2 ranking in our poll. The all-time great was able to best seventh-ranked Arlene Blencowe at Bellator 249.

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. Yana Kunitskaya (8)
9. Julianna Peña (9)
10. Marion Reneau (10)

Germaine de Randamie defeated Julianna Peña at UFC on ESPN 16 to keep herself in title contention in the UFC’s bantamweight division. Both ladies maintain their spots in the top 10. On the same card, third-ranked Holly Holm dominated No. 6 Irene Aldana.

1. Valentina Shevchenko (1)
2. Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (2)
3. Jessica Andrade (-)
4. Liz Carmouche (3)
5. Cynthia Calvillo (4)
6. Jessica Eye (5)
7. Katlyn Chookagian (6)
8. Jennifer Maia (7)
9. Vanessa Porto (8)
10. Lauren Murphy (9)

Dropped from the rankings: Joanne Calderwood (10)

Jessica Andrade made the move back to flyweight in October, and it appears to have been a great decision. The former strawweight champ smashed Katlyn Chookagian at UFC on ESPN+ 38. The Brazilian enters the flyweight rankings in the third spot. Lauren Murphy was also victorious in October. At UFC 254, Murphy bested Liliya Shakirova. Andrade’s arrival leaves Joanne Calderwood on the outside looking in, and it causes Murphy to slip one spot even in victory.

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

-Dropped from the rankings: Jessica Andrade (4)

Jessica Andrade’s move to flyweight opens the door for Tecia Torres to return to the top 10.

1. Seo Hee Ham (1)
2. Ayaka Hamasaki (2)
3. Alesha Zappitella (4)
4. Ashley Cummins (3)
5. Jessica Delboni (6)
6. Kanna Asakura (5)
7. Rena Kubota (7)
8. Lindsey VanZandt (8)
9. Mina Kurobe (9)
10. Kelly D’Angelo (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month.