In just over a decade, women have gone from not being a part of the UFC to headlining events and becoming stars all over the world.
Women’s fights were finally added to UFC cards in 2013, opening up a whole host of opportunities and dream bouts for the toughest women across the globe.
In this article, we’ll look at the greatest women fighters in history, including a “Cyborg” and a champion who retired without losing both of her world title belts.
5. Joanna Jędrzejczyk
Joanna Jędrzejczyk’s run as the UFC Strawweight Champion was as good as any other in UFC history.
After Jędrzejczyk beat Carla Esparza to become champion in 2015, she embarked on a 5-fight streak of defenses that positioned her as the top woman that the division had ever seen.
It seemed like she’d retire as champion eventually, with nobody coming close to the Polish fighter in the octagon.
However, American fighter Rose Namajunas ended that reign with back-to-back wins in two of the most exciting fights the division has seen.
She then went on to have some of the best fights ever seen. The bouts between Jędrzejczyk and Zhang Weili have cemented her legacy as an all-time great and are some of the UFC fans’ favorite fights ever.
4. Valentina Shevchenko
As the current pound-for-pound top female fighter in the UFC, Valentina Shevchenko has proven herself to be among the top women the sport has ever seen.
The Kyrgyzstani fighter has been almost unstoppable since her debut fight in 2015, going on to become a two-time champion in the UFC Women’s Flyweight division.
“Bullet” has broken every record possible in her division, cementing herself as one of the all-time greats.
Additionally, her fights with Alexa Grasso gave the UFC its first-ever women’s trilogy, which told a story that Hollywood writers would envy.
She lost her title before fighting to a draw with Grasso. Shevchenko then beat her in the third fight to become a two-time champion and looks to start another long and dominant reign as the head of the division again.
3. Cris Cyborg
For the past 20 years, Cris Cyborg has been fighting and dominating whichever women were brave enough to go against her in the octagon.
Named for her ex-husband and fellow MMA fighter, Cyborg’s career is littered with wins over the top women in the sport. 21 of her 28 victories have ended via knockout, so you know you’ll get excitement when watching one of the Brazilian’s fights.
Only Amanda Nunes has beaten Cyborg since 2005, which shows how devastating and dangerous a fighter she has been for the past two decades.
The Brazilian could be considered the greatest female fighter of all time. However, only 7 of her 30 fights took place in the UFC, so it is hard to put her any higher than 3rd position in this list.
2. Ronda Rousey
No UFC fighter – male or female – captured the public imagination quite as much as Ronda Rousey did during her dominant run as the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion.
Rousey was a trailblazer in the promotion. She took part in the first-ever female fight in UFC, when Rousey beat Liz Carmouche with a first-round submission victory.
This began a streak of domination that brought the women in MMA to the forefront. She went on a six-fight winning streak, all but one of which saw her finishing the bout in the first round, drawing comparisons to boxing legend Mike Tyson.
While her title losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes ended Rousey’s career, she remains one of the biggest female stars to come out of the UFC after her domination of the division in the 2010s.
1. Amanda Nunes
While there is a tough field to compete with, it’s hard to look past Amanda Nunes when choosing who the greatest women’s UFC fighter of all time is.
The Brazilian fighter lost just twice in a decade in the UFC, winning 16 of her fights in convincing fashion.
She made history by winning both the UFC Women’s Featherweight and Bantamweight titles, defending both simultaneously as she dominated women’s fighting. No woman, before or since, has managed such a feat.
The Lioness’ career ended in 2023 after Nunes beat Irene Aldana at UFC 289. She vacated both her titles and retired on top, although it is rumored that Nunes will return to the octagon in 2025 after two years away.
Her career was so dominant that she had to retire before losing her titles. If that doesn’t make her the greatest female fighter of all time, then I’m not sure what will.