Combat Press Women’s MMA Rankings: August 2022

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.

1. Amanda Nunes (1)
2. Cris “Cyborg” Justino (2)
3. Kayla Harrison (3)
4. Julia Budd (4)
5. Cat Zingano (5)
6. Macy Chiasson (6)
7. Arlene Blencowe (7)
8. Norma Dumont (8)
9. Pam Sorenson (9)
10. Sarah Kaufman (10)

Kayla Harrison continued her lightweight campaign in July, beating Kaitin Young. She now fights Martina Jindrova in the playoffs in August.

1. Amanda Nunes (2)
2. Julianna Pena (1)
3. Ketlen Vieira (3)
4. Holly Holm (4)
5. Raquel Pennington (5)
6. Irene Aldana (6)
7. Aspen Ladd (7)
8. Yana Kunitskaya (8)
9. Miesha Tate (9)
10. Pannie Kianzad (10)

The month of July saw Amanda Nunes regain her UFC title with a battering of Julianna Pena. Looking into August, Aspen Ladd takes on Sara McMann.

1. Valentina Shevchenko (1)
2. Liz Carmouche (2)
3. Katlyn Chookagian (3)
4. Juliana Velasquez (4)
5. Manon Fiorot (5)
6. Alexa Grasso (6)
7. Jennifer Maia (7)
8. Lauren Murphy (8)
9. Viviane Araujo (9)
10. Taila Santos (10)

The month of July saw Lauren Murphy hold her top-10 spot with a win over Miesha Tate. In August, Alexa Grasso and Viviane Araujo square off in an attempt to move up the rankings.

1. Carla Esparza (1)
2. Rose Namajunas (2)
3. Weili Zhang (3)
4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (4)
5. Jessica Andrade (5)
6. Marina Rodriguez (6)
7. Xiaonan Yan (7)
8. Amanda Lemos (NR)
9. Michelle Waterson (8)
10. Mackenzie Dern (9)
    Dropped out of rankings: Tecia Torres (10)

Amanda Lemos has entered the rankings after her July victory over Michelle Waterson. As of right now, no top-10 strawweights are scheduled to fight in August.

1. Jessica Delboni (1)
2. Seika Izawa (2)
3. Alesha Zappitella (3)
4. Ayaka Hamasaki (4)
5. Ashley Cummins (5)
6. Jillian DeCoursey (6)
7. Lindsey vanZandt (7)
8. Saori Oshima (8)
9. Si Woo Park (9)
10. Rena Kubota (10)

The atomweight division was very busy in July. Seika Izawa scored a submission win over Laura Fontoura. Ayaka Hamasaki scored a decision over UFC veteran Jessica Aguilar. Saori Oshima continued her winning ways by beating Miyuu Yamamoto. Si Woo Park defeated Kanna Asakura by decision. Rena Kubota was victorious in her bout over Anastasiya Svetvikska. As of now, no top-10 fighters are scheduled to fight in August.