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)
- Norma Dumont (5)
- Cat Zingano (6)
- Megan Anderson (7)
- Felicia Spencer (8)
- Arlene Blencowe (9)
- Pam Sorenson (10)
No top-10 fighters competed in the featherweight division in the month of December, so the rankings remain unchanged. As of now, no top-10 women are scheduled to compete in January.
- Julianna Pena (9)
- Amanda Nunes (1)
- Germaine de Randamie (2)
- Holly Holm (3)
- Raquel Pennington (4)
- Aspen Ladd (5)
- Irene Aldana (6)
- Ketlen Vieira (7)
- Yana Kunitskaya (8)
- Miesha Tate (10)
In a stunning turn of events, Julianna Pena has secured the top ranking at women’s 135, as the massive underdog finished Amanda Nunes to end her dominant reign as queen of the division. Also, Raquel Pennington scored a finish of Macy Chiasson to secure her position.
- Valentina Shevchenko (1)
- Liz Carmouche (2)
- Jessica Andrade (3)
- Katlyn Chookagian (4)
- Jennifer Maia (5)
- Juliana Velasquez (6)
- Ilima Macfarlane (7)
- Lauren Murphy (8)
- Andrea Lee (9)
- Taila Santos (10)
No top-10 fighters competed in the featherweight division in the month of December, so the rankings remain unchanged. Looking into January, Katlyn Chookagian and Jennifer Maia are set to do battle in a pivotal match of ranked fighters.
- Rose Namajunas (1)
- Weili Zhang (2)
- Joanna Jędrzejczyk (3)
- Carla Esparza (4)
- Xiaonan Yan (5)
- Claudia Gadelha (6)
- Marina Rodriguez (7)
- Michelle Waterson (8)
- Tecia Torres (9)
- Amanda Ribas (10)
No top-10 fighters competed in the featherweight division in the month of December, so the rankings remain unchanged. As of now, no top-10 women are scheduled to compete in January.
- 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)
- Miyuu Yamamoto (9)
- Alyona Rassohyna (NR)
Dropped out of the rankings: Kelly D’Angelo (10)
Due to Kelly D’Angelo heading to the strawweight division her last few fights, she has been removed from the rankings. In January, Alesha Zappitella rematches Jessica Delboni with the Invicta title on the line.