The greatest female fighter of all-time is Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes. No debate. No discussion. Hell, pound-for-pound, gender-for-gender, she’s the GOAT period. Her performances against the next best things are what really propel her to sitting so high atop the throne of Women’s MMA. However, who is the next best thing? If Nunes is taken out of the equation, the question becomes much more interesting. There are many women who have a claim to be considered at number 2. Let’s go over the contenders for the crown.
5: Joanna Jędrzejczyk
Once upon a time, Joanna could have argued with Amanda Nunes for the title of wGOAT. At 14-0 with five title defenses under her belt, she seemed unstoppable at the Strawweight division. However, by going 2-4 in her last six fights, and not having finished a fight since 2015, the 32 year old out of Poland has had a bit of a fall from grace. Though she will always be a Strawweight legend, any hope of regaining her former aura of invincibility is lost.
4: Weili Zhang
The first ever Chinese UFC Champion is the only one who has a real path to be at the top of this list in the future. On a 21 fight win streak, and 5-0 in the UFC, Zhang has done just about everything she can possibly do to prove that she belongs in the conversation of the best female fighters in the history of the game. The only thing hurting Zhang is the small sample size of UFC championship fights, however, if she keeps her momentum going for years to come, she may find herself atop this list.
3: Cris Cyborg
For 15 years, Cris Cyborg has been absolutely untouchable by any woman in the world, except Amanda Nunes. With an astounding 18 KO/TKOs in 24 professional MMA bouts, almost anyone who walks into the cage with Cris Cyborg does not come out looking the same. The thing that holds Cyborg back from being higher on the list, outside of her 51 second knockout courtesy of Amanda Nunes, is the fact that for most of her career, she did not fight in the UFC. The lack of a featherweight division caused her to remain in Invicta until 2016, which dampened her resume. With her only victory over a former/future champion being a decision victory over Holly Holm, Cyborg doesn’t have that signature win to put her over the top.
2: Ronda Rousey
Rowdy Rondy Rousey was the baddest woman on the planet long before the rest of us knew she was. She was so dominant in her 12 fight win streak which started her career, that she only fought an entire round in ONE of her twelve fights, which was a 3rd round armbar victory over arch-rival and future UFC champion Miesha Tate. In fact, in her last three UFC victories, she fought for a total of 64 seconds, racking up two knockouts and one submission in that time. She was also the biggest star in the UFC for multiple years, bringing in what at the time, was the second most PPV buys of all time for UFC 193. However, it all went downhill from there. Two KO losses later, courtesy of UFC champions Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, Rousey retired from the sport, and her inability to recapture her glory will be a stain on her resume, though she will always be a UFC legend.
1: Valentina Shevchenko
Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko’s 19-3 MMA record may not be as glamorous as the people under her on this list, but there are two fights in particular that easily propel her to the top of this list, and they aren’t any of her 19 wins. Bullet fought Amanda Nunes twice, and over 40 minutes of war, was not knocked out or submitted. Her split decision loss to The Lioness proved that she belongs in the ring with her, something that no other fighter has been able to do since Nunes became champion, and what makes this accomplishment even bigger, is that she wasn’t even fighting at her correct weight class. Shevchenko is naturally a 125-pound fighter, however the UFC didn’t have a women’s Flyweight division until 2018. Ever since moving to Flyweight, Valentina has looked absolutely untouchable in four straight title fight victories, cementing her spot atop this list as the second greatest women’s mixed martial artist of all-time.