MMA is currently one of the most popular fighting sports because it is very attractive and intense. There are both male and female competitions in the UFC, which is the main competition in MMA. In the past 20 years, these sports have reached the same popularity as a box and have a lot of people who are big MMA enthusiasts.
While there are many popular fighters in man`s competition like Connor McGregor, the female part of this sport also has some real superstars. Also, if you are a fan of UFC competition, you should follow ussportsbonus.com, where you can bet on your favorite fighters and inform about the following matches. In this article, we are going to introduce you to some of the most popular females in the UFC.
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1. Rose Namajunas
Source: pinterest
Rose Namajunas is in the straw weight category, and her fighting style is to actively pressures opponents before moving to kick out. She became popular during the UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden when she won against the former champion, Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
She is one of the most successful UFC fighters in recent years, and usually has odds on her side. Another important accomplishment was when she defended her title in 2018 after she won against Joanna again.
2. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Source: thesun
Joanna started her professional MMA career in 2012, while it took her two more years two get into the UFC. The Polish fighter is in the strawweight category, and her first title was in 2014 when she won against Carla Esparza. She managed to defend her title five times after losing from Rose Namajunas.
One of her best years was 2018 when she won 15 out of 18 battles when she changed her category from strawweight to lightweight. She ended that year with a defeat from Valentina Shevchenko.
3. Valentina Shevchenko
Source: middleeasy
Besides being one of the best-ever UFC fighters, Valentina Shevchenko was also successful in Muay Thai, boxing, and kickboxing. She is currently the lightweight champion. Before competing in UFC, she was part of the Legacy Fighting Championship.
Her first UFC duel was a win over Sarah Kaufmann. She showed her best performance after she went to the flyweight category, where she won her first title in 2018, after beating the Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Her fight record is 16 wins from 19 professional fights.
4. Cris Cyborg
Source: the-sun
Cris Cyborg became a popular fighter in Strikeforce and Invicta competitions after she joined the UFC in 2015. One of the main reasons for her popularity is her fierce appearance during the fights. Her first UFC title came after she won against Tonya Evinger.
She is a champion of a lightweight category, and her record is 20 wins from 22 professional fights. Some of the best fights that she had in her career were with Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.
5. Ronda Rousey
Source: ew
Ronda Rousey is currently competing as a pro wrestler. However, she has left a real legacy in MMA in Strikeforce and UFC competitions. Also, she won a bronze medal at Olympic Games in China in 2008. She entered the world of fighting in the octagon after she retired from her athlete career.
Ronda needs a little to become the best female UFC and Mixed Martial Arts fighter of all time. Also, she was the first UFC champion in the bantamweight category in 2013. Her biggest wins were title defenses against Sara McMann and Alexis Davis.
6. Michelle Waterson
Source: mmaindia
Before her career in UFC, Michelle was a champion in the Invicta FC championship where she showed her talent and great potential. The amazing fact is that she was never submitted to the octagon. Unfortunately, many injuries limited her from releasing her full talent.
7. Holly Holm
Source: newsweek
Holly Holm is another successful UFC fighter who attracts the public with her engaging moves during fights. However, she is someone who just needs a little more luck, since she had some tough years, especially 2016 when she lost her title from Miesha Tate.
8. Karolina Kowalkiewicz
Source: combatpress
Karolina is maybe not a legend of this sport nor in the top 5, but she had some good fights, especially in the title fight against Joanna Jedrzejczyk, where she unfortunately lost. However, her score is still pretty good, with three wins and one lost fight in UFC, and twelve wins in all competitions. Another great achievement was when she won against the Rose Namajunas in a split decision.
9. Claudia Gadelha
Source: ufc
Claudia Gadelha lost only one game in her professional MMA career, she was beaten by Jedrzejczyk at the peak of her career. She is very strong on her feet and has some unique moves that make her recognizable.
10. Cat Zingano
Source: bleacherreport
Cat Zingano is a very talented, aggressive and attractive fighter who uses her legs the most, and is her main move. Some of her best achievements were wins against Miesha Tate, and Amanda Nunes. However, she had few losses in a row, which led her fans to doubt in her and her future success.
11. Julianna Pena
Source: ufc
Even though she lost some of her important fights, just like the one against Valentina Shevchenko, she proves every time that she is very talented and has the potential to become a real star at the UFC championship. Also, she is one of the youngest fighters in MMA, and we hope that she will continue to progress.
12. Raquel Pennington
Source: youtube
Raquel was in the top five fighters in the bantamweight category in UFC during 2016. Her winning strike was four wins in a row after she lost against Holly Holm. After that loss, she won against Miesha Tate. We are still waiting for her with a title.
13. Jessica Andrade
Source: bleacherreport
She had a lot of challenges during her career, mostly because she was fighting against bigger opponents in the bantamweight category, but she managed to deal with them and even has a one to one score with Raquel Pennington. After she moved to the strawweight division, there was immediately much bigger success.
