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UFC president Dana White once claimed that female fighters would never compete in the octagon. Thankfully, that changed in 2013 when Ronda Rousey fought Liz Carmouche in the first ever UFC women’s bantamweight title bout. Since then, countless talented women have fought in the promotion.
Since 2013, we’ve seen a total of 15 different women hold UFC titles, but who is the greatest female fighter in UFC history?
It’s definitely an interesting question and there are almost certainly a number of worthy contenders to choose from. Naturally, though, a handful of fighters stand out above all of the others.
With that said, here are the five greatest female fighters in UFC history.
#5. Rose Namajunas – current UFC women's strawweight champion
Reigning UFC strawweight champion Rose Namajunas can lay claim to a feat that no other female fighter in UFC history has been able to accomplish.
Unlike her fellow female champions, ‘Thug Rose’ is the only female fighter to regain her title after losing it inside the octagon. That alone makes her one of the greatest female fighters in UFC history. Of course, there’s a lot more to her than just that.
Namajunas initially rose to fame as part of the cast on the 20th season of The Ultimate Fighter. Despite being one of the youngest and least experienced cast members, she made it all the way to the final, submitting three opponents along the way. She did, however, fall to Carla Esparza in the inaugural UFC women's strawweight title bout.
Undeterred, ‘Thug Rose’ returned to action almost a year later and put together an impressive run of four wins with just one loss. Her form put her in position for a second crack at the title.
Despite then-champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk looking unbeatable, Namajunas pulled off one of the UFC’s all-time great upsets by knocking out the Polish fighter in the first round and claiming gold in the process. After defending her title successfully against Jedrzejczyk in a rematch, Namajunas took a year away for personal reasons. She subsequently lost her crown to Jessica Andrade upon her return.
However, since then, she’s defeated Andrade in a rematch and most recently unseated Weili Zhang to reclaim her title. Her victory over 'Magnum' at UFC 261 began her second reign as 115-pound champion.
How long Namajunas can hold onto her title this time is anyone’s guess, but her accomplishments thus far definitely earn her a spot on this list.
#4. Joanna Jedrzejczyk – former UFC women's strawweight champion
For some UFC fans, it would seem bizarre to rank Joanna Jedrzejczyk above Rose Namajunas in a list like this. After all, ‘Thug Rose’ defeated the Polish star to take her UFC women's strawweight title and then bested her for a second time in a rematch.
However, Jedrzejczyk still has the edge over her former rival for a simple reason: her reign as UFC women's strawweight champion was amongst the best and most dominant title reigns in UFC history.
Jedrzejczyk came into the UFC in late 2014 with an unbeaten MMA record and a reputation as a monstrous kickboxer. She quickly reeled off impressive wins over Juliana Lima and Claudia Gadelha.
That was enough to net her a shot at then-UFC strawweight queen Carla Esparza. Incredibly, Jedrzejczyk still went into that fight as an underdog due to question marks around her ground game.
Those questions were quickly answered when she used her striking to blitz ‘Cookie Monster’, ruthlessly finishing her off in the second round.
From there, Jedrzejczyk would continue to dominate her foes, defeating five straight challengers in largely lopsided fashion. At her best, in her defenses against Claudia Gadelha and Jessica Andrade, the Polish fighter looked absolutely unbeatable.
Of course, that idea was proven wrong by Namajunas at UFC 217 and since losing her title, Jedrzejczyk has won just two more fights while losing three. But the fact that one of those losses was arguably the best women’s fight in UFC history, her crazy war with Weili Zhang, coupled with her five successful title defenses means she’s still deserving of a spot on this list.
#3. Ronda Rousey – former UFC women's bantamweight champion
If this list were being judged on impact rather than fighting ability, there can be no question that former UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey would be right at the top. In that sense, nobody else comes close.
It was, after all, Rousey’s marketability as the Strikeforce women's bantamweight champion that triggered UFC president Dana White to change his mind and introduce female fighters to the octagon in the first place.
And after entering the UFC with a win over Liz Carmouche and becoming the inaugural UFC women's bantamweight champion in the process, ‘Rowdy’ quickly established herself as one of the biggest stars in MMA history.
She put together an incredible run as champion, making a total of six successful title defenses. The nature of those defenses made her look so dominant that some fans wondered if she could even beat some of the UFC’s male fighters. In fact, the final three defenses of her reign against Alexis Davis, Cat Zingano and Bethe Correia lasted a combined total of just 64 seconds.
It’s true that the end of Rousey’s UFC career didn’t exactly go to plan. She was knocked out by Holly Holm and lost her title. 'Rowdy' then suffered another KO at the hands of Amanda Nunes.
However, her accomplishments prior to that, as well as her star power and overall impact on women’s MMA, mean she will always be considered an all-time great. Frankly, without her, women’s MMA would probably not be where it is today.
#2. Valentina Shevchenko – current UFC women's flyweight champion
Right now, there are few UFC champions as dominant over their division as Valentina Shevchenko. In fact, based on what she achieved in the bantamweight division before dropping to flyweight, it’s easy to argue her status as a pound-for-pound great, too.
‘Bullet’ first debuted in the UFC at 135 pounds in late 2015. She marked herself out as a fighter to watch with her win over former Strikeforce champ Sarah Kaufman.
Despite being undersized, she was able to beat Holly Holm and Julianna Pena to earn a shot at UFC bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes. She came up short against the 'Lioness’ via a split decision.
It’s what the Kyrgyzstani has achieved since moving down to 125 pounds in early 2018 that really sets her apart, though. Shevchenko defeated Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant UFC women's flyweight title at UFC 231. Since then, she’s reeled off five straight title defenses, thoroughly dominating every opponent that the UFC has put in front of her.
‘Bullet’ has looked so much better than her peers at flyweight that fighters such as Katlyn Chookagian and Jennifer Maia gained praise for even escaping the first round against her.
The only black mark on Shevchenko is that, realistically, the division she competes in doesn’t appear to be all that strong. However, dominating a weaker weight class is hardly a bad thing, just ask Demetrious Johnson.
And so right now, ‘Bullet’, who will defend her title for the sixth time at UFC 266 this weekend against Lauren Murphy, should comfortably be considered the second-best female fighter in UFC history.
#1. Amanda Nunes – current UFC women's bantamweight and featherweight champion
Standing head and shoulders above every other female fighter in UFC history is the reigning UFC women's bantamweight and featherweight champion, Amanda Nunes.
Not only is the 'Lioness’ the greatest female fighter that the octagon has ever seen, but she’s arguably amongst the top five fighters the promotion has ever seen, period.
Debuting in the UFC back in 2013, Nunes put together a record of 5-1 to earn a shot at then-UFC bantamweight champ Miesha Tate at UFC 200. Despite many fans favoring the champion, Nunes destroyed her in a one-sided fashion in the first round to claim the title.
At the time, few fans would’ve believed that they were witnessing the beginning of one of the UFC’s most dominant title reigns. However, Nunes cemented her legend just five months later by knocking out former champion Ronda Rousey in just 48 seconds.
Everything she’s done since then has only added to an already unbelievable list of accomplishments. 2018 saw the 'Lioness’ knock Cris Cyborg out to add the UFC featherweight title to her ledger. Since then, she’s defended both titles on a regular basis, taking her to a combined total of seven successful title defenses.
Some fans may well look down upon Nunes in comparison to great male champions like Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva due to a perceived lack of strong competition. However, the Brazilian has still beaten a total of six current or former UFC champions, basically rendering that argument moot.
Essentially, nobody has come close to what Nunes has achieved inside the octagon, making her far and away the UFC’s greatest ever female fighter.
