When you think of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, you think of athletes that look amazing. For a long time, male fighters dominated the championship. But things changed up after Dana White and the company opened the first-ever UFC women division. Fans started coming to see MMA girl fighters. How many of the strongest do you know? Ronda Rousey? Holly Holm? Anyone else?
Today, we will take a look at some of the physically gifted and badass women in the UFC championship.
Jessica Eye
When you get a nickname like Evil Eye, you must be doing something good. Jessica is one of the toughest female fighters. Her range includes boxing attacks, defensive jab moves, and agile strikes.
Jessica started her mixed martial arts career with a 10-1 record. Famous for her strong body kicks and takedowns, she has earned praise even from UFC president Dana White.
MMA fans consider her a pure fighter. And when it is time to go, she loves the challenge.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk
She won the UFC women’s strawweight championship and defended the title five consecutive times. Joanna holds the record for most UFC women’s strawweight division wins with 10.
For a short period, she was among the top three female fighters in MMA. Climbing to a record of 14-0-0, she dominated any martial artist fighter that challenged her.
And she looked unbeatable until Rose Namajunas got her shot for the strawweight title. When you look at her MMA career, she was good and achieved a lot. All of her losses have come against strong opponents.
Amanda Nunes
Speaking of cool nicknames, Amanda the Lioness Nunes is definitely a good one. She has an overall record of 21-4-0, with a UFC record of 14-1-0.
She won the UFC Women Bantamweight championship and defended the title five times. The Brazilian professional MMA fighter has won both Bantamweight Champion and Featherweight titles. And she is the first woman in MMA history to become a two-division UFC champion.
This martial art female fighter has defeated some of the best in the sport, including Ronda Rousey and Cris Cyborg. To this day, Amanda remains the first person in UFC history to successfully defend two titles in two different divisions while holding them.
Ronda Rousey
Rowdy Ronda Rousey is the one responsible for the popularization of female MMA fighting. She rose to the top with lightning-fast knockouts and powerful punches. Her fighting style includes judo, takedown techniques, and boxing.
Her signature move is the arm-bar. That is why MMA fans call her the Arm Collector. She suffered a tough defeat to Holly Holm, but she still remains one of the most feared fighters in the world.
In the past few years, she has made the jump into movies, appearing in The Expendable and Furious 7. The biggest problem for Rousey was that hype and pumping up by her coaches led to too high self-esteem. At one point, she wanted to go against male fighters, even talking she can beat Floyd Mayweather in a boxing match. And it all came crashing down when she lost to Holly Holm.
Valentina Shevchenko
No, Valentina has nothing to do with one of the more famous soccer players, Andriy Shevchenko. The two share a common Ukrainian last name. Called the Bullet, Valentina holds a record of 21-3-0.
She has performed admirably throughout her entire career. Her big loss in the UFC came against Amanda Nunes, one of the best in the sport.
She has dominated the flyweight division with lopsided decisions and wins over her opposition.
Cristiane Justino
We all know her by her nickname, Cris Cyborg. The Brazilian-American fighter competes in the featherweight division. As of April 2021, she is the current Bellator Women’s Featherweight Champion.
She defended her title against Hiroko Yamanaka, but she lost it because of a positive test for anabolic steroids. Cris then won the UFC Women Featherweight Champion and dominated it until she faced Amanda Nunes.
So far, she has a record of 23-2-1.
Rose Namajunas
Contrary to her amazing appearance, Rose goes by the nickname Thug. It is hard to imagine it after looking at her impressive looks. Rose is one of the sexiest MMA girl fighters.
Her fighting style includes Brazilian jiu-jitsu and taekwondo. With that lethal combination, she moves swiftly through matches.
She is a Wisconsin native. Rose is a striking specialist with an impressive 65-inch reach. So far, Namajunas has black belts in karate and taekwondo, making her one of the most skilled women fighters on the UFC roster.
Joanne Calderwood
They call her The Whispering Assassin. That is one cool nickname, wouldn’t you say? She started training in Muay Thai as a teenager. She now uses that discipline in combination with Brazilian jiu-jitsu, powerful leg strikes, and devastating jabs to dominate the UFC championship.
She has many other nicknames, including JoJo, Badmofo JoJo, and Dr. Kneevil. From her first 21 matches, she lost only two.
Carla Esparza
Here is another girl MMA fighter with a killer nickname. Cookie Monster is one of the best grapplers in the UFC Championship. Her range of moves includes kicks and punches. And combining that with wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu moves, she dominates the ring.
Carla was the first UFC Strawweight Division Champion. Starting her career by winning 11 of the first 14 MMA matches, Esparza helped popularize the sport.
Cat Zingano
Cat is a native of Winona, Minnesota. This mixed martial arts fighter has some of the best moves for taking down opponents. Nicknamed Alpha, Zingano uses Brazilian jiu-jitsu, wrestling, and Muay Thai moves to fight in the ring.
In 2013, she became the first MMA woman to win a UFC fight by technical knockout. And she did it thanks to her near 70-inch reach.
She lost for the first time to Ronda Rousey.
Satoko Shinashi
This Japanese UFC fighter is a submission expert. Many think of her as the best Japanese female MMA fighter of all time. When she was in her prime, it was almost impossible to beat her. Satoko won most of her fights by submission.
She won the Smackgirl Lightweight Championship before retiring in 2008. And she retired because of her pregnancy. Shinashi then returned to the ring in 2014. She had five fights and won them all for an overall record of 34 wins, 2 losses, and 1 draw.
Holly Holm
Holm got famous as the MMA fighter to defeat Ronda Rousey at UFC 193 in Australia. But she is much more than that. Fun fact: her nickname is The Preacher’s Daughter. But she is far from a sweet lady.
Holm has a wide range of kickboxing and boxing skills.
Holly started her MMA career winning the first 10 matches, including the one against Ronda Rousey. Holm sent the superstar into a yearlong exile from the sport.
She has won multiple championships as well as defending her title a staggering 18 times. Overall, she has a record of 32-2-3 in the ring.
