Women may have only started competing in MMA events around 1997, but the giant strides they have made in such a short time to establish themselves as a mainstay in the predominantly male bastion is staggering. Initially, women of the sport were lucky to secure even one fight on a card, but all that has changed thanks to talented fighters such as Ronda Rousey, Strikeforce veteran Miesha Tate and Valentino Shevchenko, who proved that they could compete alongside the best male fighters in the world. The wave that Rousey made has reached tidal proportions today with the UFC conducting women’s contests in strawweight, bantamweight, featherweight and flyweight divisions. MMA is the fastest growing professional sport in the world and the UFC is a multibillion dollar business, something that has been achieved with the help of women fighters. Here’s out list of the top women fighters in MMA.
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1. Ronda Rousey: Think women in MMA and the first name that comes to mind is Ronda Rousey — the first American woman to earn a medal in Olympic judo when she won the bronze at the 2008 Games in Beijing. She became the UFC’s inaugural Women’s bantamweight champion when she defeated Liz Carmouche in 2013. She was only beaten twice in a career where she scored 14 massive wins. Outside the Octagon Rousey has appeared on the cover of Maxim, Australian Men’s Fitness, Ring, Sports Illustrated and has also starred in number of films including The Expendables 3.
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2. Miesha Tate: A former UFC bantamweight champion, Tate has modelled for numerous websites and publications, including ESPN The Magazine and Fitness Gurls. In 2015, Tate was announced as a cast member in the feature film Fight Valley. After her retirement, Tate has become the vice-president for ONE Championship and currently lives in Singapore with her partner, fellow MMA fighter Johnny Nunez.
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3. Rachael Ostovich: Hawaii’s Rachael Ostovich might not be the most famous martial artist out there but she is definitely one of the most glamorous female fighters. She has fought just twice in UFC’s flyweight division since 2017 and since then she has one win and two losses — to Montana De La Rosa and Paige VanZant. Ostovich uses social media as a means of acquiring a fan base which is growing by the minute. She is a fashionista who frequently experiments with her looks and even dressed up as Catwoman for Halloween last year.
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4. Tecia Torres: She might only be ranked No. 11 in the UFC women’s strawweight division but Tecia Torres has a huge following outside the Octagon. Torres has carried her appeal with her during her young MMA career. The Colorado native has always felt education is an important step for her regardless of a future in MMA. Beauty and brains is a deadly combination.
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5. Andrea Lee: An American kick-boxer and mixed martial artist who competes in the flyweight division, Andrea Lee has scored 11 wins from 15 fights. She is an absolute fan favourite thanks to her calendar shoots and trademark cowboy hat that she wears for her walk to the Octagon. She once channelled her inner Britney Spears by saying, “Oops, I Did it Again” after posting some controversial snaps on Instagram.
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6. Paige VanZant: VanZant is the UFC’s ultimate glamour girl having modelled for Nike and Columbia Sportswear. She has frequently spoken out for better wages and even said that she gets more money posting sponsored photographs on Instagram than she did her whole MMA career. But UFC president Dana White is clearly a fan and even reacted by saying: “That’s awesome. Listen, if a fighter can make more money doing other things, good for her.” An accomplished dancer, VanZant has appeared in the television series Dancing with the Stars and Chopped.
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7. Valentino Shevchenko: Kyrgyzstan’s Valentina Shevchenko is one of the UFC’s hottest properties, not just because of her exploits in the Octagon, but also because of her image outside it where she is an ambassador and fashion stylist. Blessed with sultry looks, she would not look out of place as a Russian assassin in a James Bond movie. As of March 2020 she was ranked the third highest grossing and best female fighters to be a part of the UFC, and photographs of Shevchenko can be found in their thousands on social media.
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8. Lena Ovchynnikova: Ukraine’s Lena Ovchynnikova is the reigning WBC Muay Thai world featherweight champion and the former world flyweight champion. She is regarded as one of the best dressed women fighters in combat sports and takes her image seriously outside the Octagon. But don’t let her model looks fool you, all eight of her opponents will testify that she’s a real deal.
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9. Michelle Watterson: An American mixed martial artist and model who competes in the women’s strawweight division. She is the former Invicta FC Atomweight Champion. She has won 17 of her 25 career fights and is billed to appear at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi on Sunday morning. She has featured music videos for such bands as Megadeth. She was also the central character of the 2016 documentary Fight Mom.
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10. Ariane Lipski: Brazil’s Ariane Lipski is a former KSW women’s flyweight champion who currently competes in the flyweight division of UFC. Although she is one of the newcomers on the UFC roster, she looks sure to take the mixed martial arts world by storm both in and out of the Octagon.
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