The Unified Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Rankings are assembled each month by a panel of journalists from multiple MMA websites and publications. These rankings are acknowledged by most promotions as the only official women’s mixed martial arts rankings assembled by division and weight class.
Fighters who have not competed within the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked. Fighters who vacate a weight class will no longer be ranked in that division.
Featherweights (136-145 pounds):
1. Hiroko “Cat’s Eye” Yamanaka (12-1-0, 1 ND)
2. “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey (4-0-0)
3. Rin Nakai (10-0-1)
4. Milana Dudieva (7-1-0)
5. Yana “Foxy” Kunitskaya (5-1-0)
6. Elaina “Beef” Maxwell (6-4-0)
7. Julia “The Jewel” Budd (2-2-0)
8. Cindy “Battlecat” Dandois (5-1-0)
9. Ediane “India” Gomes (8-2-0)
10. Romy Ruyssen (5-1-0)
*Previously number one-ranked Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos removed due to a positive test for steroids. With her loss to Santos now nullified as a No Decision, Hiroko Yamanaka returns to her former spot at number two and now assumes the number one ranking due to Santos’s dismissal.
Bantamweights (126-135 pounds):
1. Miesha “Takedown” Tate (12-2-0)
2. Marloes “Rumina” Coenen (19-5-0)
3. Sarah Kaufman (14-1-0)
4. Alexis Davis (11-4-0)
5. Sara McMann (5-0-0)
6. Hitomi “Girlfight Monster” Akano (18-9-0)
7. Liz “Girl-Rilla” Carmouche (5-2-0)
8. Vanessa Porto (13-4-0)
9. Julie “Fireball” Kedzie (16-10-0)
10. Kaitlin Young (7-5-0)
Super Flyweights (116-125 pounds):
1. Tara LaRosa (20-2-0)
2. Zoila “The Warrior Princess” Gurgel (11-1-0)
3. Rosi “The Surgeon” Sexton (12-2-0)
4. Cat “Alpha” Zingano (6-0-0)
5. Barb “Little Warrior” Honchak (5-2-0)
6. Sheila “The German Tank” Gaff (9-4-1)
7. Aisling “Ais The Bash” Daly (13-2-0)
8. “Slick” Sally Krumdiack (9-4-0)
9. Jessica “Evil” Eye (5-1-0)
10. Marianna “The Crushen Russian” Kheyfets (4-0-0)
Flyweights (107-115 pounds):
1. Megumi “Mega Megu” Fujii (25-1-0)
2. Jessica “Jag” Aguilar (12-4-0)
3. Ayaka Hamasaki (6-0-0)
4. Lisa Ellis-Ward (14-7-0)
5. Seo Hee Ham (9-5-0)
6. “V.V” Mei Yamaguchi (9-3-1)
7. Kyoko Takabayashi (12-4-1)
8. Yuka “Vale Tudo Queen” Tsuji (23-2-0)
9. Carla Esparza (6-2-0)
10. “Windy” Tomomi Sunaba (17-13-1)
Strawweights (96-106 pounds):
1. Naho “Sugi Rock” Sugiyama (7-0-0)
2. Kikuyo Ishikawa (6-3-0)
3. Misaki Takimoto (15-13-4)
4. Michelle “The Karate Hottie” Waterson (9-3-0)
5. Yukiko Seki (10-21-0)
6. Sachiko “Sachi” Yamamoto (9-6-1)
7. Yasuko “Ikuko” Tamada (12-7-3)
8. Amy “Lil’ Dynamite” Davis (2-2-0, 1 NC)
9. Diana “Dynamite” Rael (3-2-0)
10. Miyoko Kusaka (3-4-1)
Note: The Strawweight division extends to 106 pounds in order to incorporate the popular 48-kilogram (105.6 pounds) weight class in Japan, which has been featured prominently in DEEP and Jewels.
Rankings current as of February 1, 2012.
Heavyweights | Light Heavyweights | Middleweights | Welterweights | Lightweights
Featherweights | Bantamweights | Flyweights | Women’s Pound-For-Pound
Unified Women’s Mixed Martial Arts Rankings