Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

Women’s Bantamweight

1. Amanda Nunes (15-4)

Nunes made the first defense of her women’s bantamweight crown by absolutely destroying Ronda Rousey in 48 seconds at UFC 207 in December. Having taken a second win over Valentina Shevchenko and retained her title in September, “The Lioness” was penciled in to defend her crown at UFC 219 on Dec. 30. Nunes will now need to find a different dance partner for her third title defense, as would-be challenger Raquel Pennington has suffered a broken leg.

2. Valentina Shevchenko (14-3)

When Shevchenko met Amanda Nunes in March 2016, she started slow but turned up the heat late, leading onlookers to wonder what could have been with 10 extra minutes. Shevchenko finally got her 25-minute showdown with Nunes for the women’s bantamweight title at UFC 215 title and controlled the middle portion of the fight. However, it was the champion who came on strong late, eventually eking out a split decision, much to the chagrin of Shevchenko, who was adamant that she deserved the judges’ nod.

3. Holly Holm (11-3)

Prior to her June head kick on Bethe Correia in Singapore, Holm had lost three fights in a row, including two UFC title defeats in two different weight classes. Nonetheless, despite dropping a unanimous decision to Germaine de Randamie in the inaugural UFC women’s featherweight title fight in February, the dearth of ready-made talent at 145 pounds looks to give “The Preacher’s Daughter” another chance. She has intensified her trash talk with UFC women’s featherweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino and looks to be the Brazilian’s first challenger heading into 2018.

4. Julianna Pena (8-3)

Despite having just turned 28 years old and still just scratching the surface of her potential, Pena is not long for the 135-pound rankings. In recent months, it seemed like her exit from the bantamweight list would be as a result of Pena’s comments that she was interested in dropping to 125 pounds. Not so fast: “The Venezuelan Vixen” announced in mid-October that she is pregnant, a development that will take her out of the cage for the foreseeable future.

5. Raquel Pennington (9-5)

Pennington’s win over Miesha Tate in November 2016 put her on the cusp of a UFC title shot, but hand and shoulder injuries meant that “Rocky” needed most of 2017 to recover and rehab. Then disaster struck again. Just as Pennington was back at 100 percent and being slotted in to challenge Amanda Nunes for UFC gold at UFC 219, she suffered a broken leg in an ATV accident during a hunting trip. The latest injury will put her back on the shelf for three to four months.

6. Ronda Rousey (12-2)

After much anticipation, curiosity and speculation surrounding her title fight versus Amanda Nunes at UFC 208, Rousey’s Octagon return quickly turned into a disastrous nightmare. The Olympic judo bronze medalist was tagged immediately by Nunes and then brutally clobbered with a battery of punches before biting the dust in just 48 seconds. Even with consecutive, humiliating losses to Nunes and Holly Holm, Rousey still has one of the best resumes at 135 pounds. Whether or not she ever fights again has become the operative question.

7. Tonya Evinger (19-6, 1 NC)

Evinger was long overdue for a call-up to the UFC, but “Triple Threat” finally found a way to make it happen: She stepped into a women's featherweight title fight with Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino as a replacement for Megan Anderson at UFC 214. Evinger was a colossal underdog and took her lumps en route to a third-round knockout loss, but doing the promotion a solid by stepping into the vacant title fight with Justino will allow her to hang out in the Octagon at her actual weight class: 135 pounds.

8. Ketlen Vieira (9-0)

There is no more Ronda Rousey and no more Miesha Tate, and now, Amanda Nunes has beaten Valentina Shevchenko twice. Suffice to say, the UFC women's bantamweight division needs new contenders, and fortunately, Vieira has arrived. “Fenomeno” was solid if unspectacular in her first two Octagon appearances, but she turned it up several notches at UFC 215. Against Olympic silver medalist and former UFC title challenger Sara McMann, Vieira put on the best performance of her career against her best opponent to date, dominating McMann before submitting her with an arm-triangle choke to move to 9-0 in her young career.

9. Sara McMann (11-4)

McMann had looked sensational heading into UFC 215, as she had posted three straight impressive wins in which the Olympic silver medal-winning wrestler finally seemed to integrate a more aggressive submission game with her wrestling. She even joined Team Alpha Male in advance of her bout with unbeaten Ketlen Vieira. However, everything came crashing down when UFC 215 came around, as it was Vieira who flexed her grappling muscle, taking down McMann in the second round and choking her out.

10. Liz Carmouche (11-5)

Carmouche in her last two outings has picked up a pair of solid victories over Lauren Murphy and Katlyn Chookagian. Unfortunately, those two wins are the only action the “Girl-rilla” has seen in three and a half years. With a spate of injuries hopefully behind her, the former UFC and Strikeforce title challenger will face Alexis Davis at UFC Fight Night 123 on Dec. 9.

Other Contenders: Bethe Correia, Katlyn Chookagian, Alexis Davis, Aspen Ladd, Marion Reneau.

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