Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Pound-for-Pound Women

3. Cristiane Justino

“Cris Cyborg” was promoted as the greatest female fighter ever by the UFC for a while, and Bellator MMA still does to this day. There is certainly an argument to be made for this, but she comes in third on this list, which is where I had her as well. Cyborg's abilities have made her the terror of WMMA for the entirety of her career. She possesses underrated grappling skills, with solid wrestling and BJJ, while being exceptionally hard to take or keep down herself. However, her main skill is her phenomenal seek-and-destroy muay thai striking, which calls to mind the golden days of Chute Boxe, drawing comparisons to Wanderlei Silva and Mauricio Rua. After losing her debut, she would go an amazing 20-0 over the next 13 years, a truly unprecedented winning streak at the elite levels of the sport. Oh, and every single one of those wins was a one-sided beating. That includes knockouts of Shayna Baszler, Gina Carano, Marloes Coenen twice, Tonya Evinger, Leslie Smith, Yana Kunitskaya and a dominant decision over Holly Holm. It's a good list of names, and “Cyborg” always fought the absolute best opposition she could, but due to the lack of talent at women's 145 pounds, it doesn't compare to the ones defeated by the top two fighters on the list, which is why “Cyborg” is lower. She famously lost her UFC featherweight championship to Amanda Nunes in only 51 seconds. I don't look at this loss as negatively as some do; Justino was way too aggressive and paid the price, especially since Nunes in Round 1 is a force unlike anything else in WMMA history, Ronda Rousey included. It's certainly possible “Cyborg” could have won a rematch had she not forced the violence so suddenly, especially considering we have seen Nunes fade after Round 1 and be defeated under pressure by Julianna Pena. “Cyborg” continued winning after this, delivering a one-sided beating to Felicia Spencer to finish out her UFC contract before winning the Bellator women's featherweight crown, recording a nice knockout of another all-time great in Julia Budd—whom I had on my list at No. 10, incidentally—before defending it four times, adding a second knockout of Smith and two wins over tough striker Arlene Blencowe, one a submission triumph, the first of her career. In placing her third, “Cyborg” is being punished for a single loss to the legendary Nunes, while Nunes herself has four losses to far lesser opposition that is nowhere near the top 10. Is that fair? Not entirely, but again, the two women in front of her, including Nunes, beat far greater opposition. At 37 years old, I can't see Cyborg climbing this list either, but neither can I see her slipping for a good while.

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