The UFC Women's Bantamweight Title: A Visual History

At UFC on ESPN 16 last Saturday night, the two most recent challengers to Amanda Nunes’ bantamweight title put forth their best arguments for another shot at the pound-for-pound queen.

Of course, Holly Holm and Germaine de Randamie, both former champions in their own right, are no strangers in the Octagon. Holm, who took a lopsided unanimous decision over Irene Aldana in the main event of “UFC Fight Island 4,” won the bantamweight crown from Ronda Rousey in 2015 in one of the most memorable title upsets of all time, while de Randamie, who choked Julianna Pena out cold with a guillotine in their main card bout, defeated Holm for the featherweight title just over a year later. On Saturday in Abu Dhabi, both women looked as impressive as they ever have, in spite of the fact that de Randamie is 36 years old and Holm nearly 39.

Meanwhile, Nunes herself appears to have a next dance partner already lined up, as she is scheduled to defend her featherweight title against Megan Anderson at UFC 256 in December. Assuming the "Lioness" does not retire or go on hiatus after that fight—her wife, UFC strawweight Nina Ansaroff, gave birth to their first child on Sept. 24—the UFC will likely have her defend the bantamweight strap against Holm or de Randamie, or perhaps have Holm and de Randamie fight to determine the next challenger. Regardless of who the challenger is, if Nunes manages to defend the bantamweight title once more, she will tie Rousey’s record for the most title defenses in divisional history.

Here is the nearly eight-year history of the UFC women’s bantamweight title and the times it was won, lost or defended. It tells the story of two of the most dominant fighters the sport has ever seen, ruling the “glamour division” of women’s MMA with an iron fist.

Ben Duffy/Sherdog.com illustration