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 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 month.
- Amanda Nunes (1)
- Cris “Cyborg” Justino (2)
- Kayla Harrison (3)
- Julia Budd (4)
- Megan Anderson (5)
- Cat Zingano (6)
- Norma Dumont (7)
- Felicia Spencer (8)
- Arlene Blencowe (9)
- Leah McCourt (10)
Kayla Harrison continued her undefeated ways in August. She was able to best Genah Fabian to secure a spot in the PFL lightweight final. There are no top-10 fighters in action in September.
- Amanda Nunes (1)
- Germaine de Randamie (2)
- Holly Holm (3)
- Raquel Pennington (4)
- Aspen Ladd (5)
- Irene Aldana (6)
- Miesha Tate (7)
- Yana Kunitskaya (8)
- Ketlen Vieira (9)
- Julianna Peña (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged. In September, Raquel Pennington will look to inch closer to a potential title shot when she takes on Pannie Kianzad.
- Valentina Shevchenko (1)
- Liz Carmouche (2)
- Jessica Andrade (3)
- Katlyn Chookagian (4)
- Juliana Velasquez (5)
- Ilima-Lei Macfarlane (6)
- Cynthia Calvillo (7)
- Jennifer Maia (8)
- Lauren Murphy (9)
- Joanne Calderwood (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged. In September, top-ranked Valentina Shevchenko defends her UFC title against Lauren Murphy. On that same card, former champion Jessica Andrade takes on Cynthia Calvillo.
- Rose Namajunas (1)
- Zhang Weili (2)
- Joanna Jędrzejczyk (3)
- Carla Esparza (4)
- Yan Xiaonan (5)
- Claudia Gadelha (6)
- Marina Rodriguez (7)
- Michelle Waterson (8)
- Tecia Torres (9)
- Amanda Ribas (10)
Tecia Torres was the only top-10 fighter in action in August. She was able to defeat Angela Hill for second time and keep her No. 9 spot. As of now, there are no top-10 strawweights scheduled to fight in September.
- Seo Hee Ham (1)
- Ayaka Hamasaki (2)
- Alesha Zappitella (3)
- Ashley Cummins (4)
- Jessica Delboni (5)
- Kanna Asakura (6)
- Rena Kubota (7)
- Lindsey VanZandt (8)
- Mina Kurobe (9)
- Kelly D’Angelo (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the past month, so the rankings remain unchanged. In September, Ayaka Hamasaki will take on Emi Fujino.
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. Fighters who announce their retirement will remain ranked for a period of six months following their final bout.