Sherdog’s Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings

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Women’s Bantamweight

1. Amanda Nunes (18-4)

Nunes continued to make her case as the female “GOAT” at UFC 239, where she patiently waited for an opening before dispatching Holly Holm with a head kick and follow-up punches 4:10 into the opening stanza of their co-main event encounter at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. That makes nine consecutive victories for “Lioness,” including six in title bouts. With a resume that also includes wins over the likes of Cristiane Justino, Valentina Shevchenko (twice), Ronda Rousey, Miesha Tate and Germaine de Randamie, the next task is simply finding a suitable challenge for the two-division champion. A rematch with “Cyborg” could be on the horizon.

2. Germaine de Randamie (8-3)

De Randamie’s brief reign as featherweight champion may go down as only a footnote in UFC history, but “The Iron Lady” looks like a tough out at 135 pounds. In her first bout since February 2017, the kickboxer stymied former title challenger Raquel Pennington at every turn, earning a unanimous verdict in a featured bantamweight tilt at UFC Fight Night Denver. The Netherlands native has won four straight bouts dating back to 2015. Next, she’ll lock horns with Aspen Ladd in the UFC Sacramento headliner on July 13.

3. Holly Holm (12-5)

Give Holm and her team credit: “The Preacher’s Daughter” has maximized her marketability during her UFC tenure. However, Holm’s run may be nearing its end. The Jackson-Wink MMA stalwart never got going against Amanda Nunes in the UFC 239 co-headliner, as she fell victim to her own signature move – a head kick – at the 4:10 mark of the opening stanza. Since her monumental upset of Ronda Rousey, Holm is 0-4 in UFC title bouts, and there seems to be no obvious next move for the 37-year-old following the first KO/TKO defeat of her MMA career.

4. Ketlen Vieira (10-0)

Do not be fooled by the split decision result: Vieira was largely dominant in her victory over Cat Zingano at UFC 222 thanks to her takedowns and suffocating top game. After having handily dispatched ex-title challengers in Zingano and Sara McMann in her last two outings -- and with a 4-0 record overall in the Octagon -- the 26-year-old Brazilian should be on the short list of top contenders at 135 pounds. Vieira was paired with former Invicta Fighting Championships titleholder Tonya Evinger at UFC Fight Night 137 on Sept. 22 but was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury.

5. Aspen Ladd (8-0)

Ladd didn’t get her desired clash with Holly Holm at UFC 235 as originally anticipated, but she did add another victory to her ledger by outpointing Sijara Eubanks at UFC Rochester on May 18. The contest, which was a rematch of an Invicta FC bout, was competitive and won “Fight of the Night” honors, but Ladd relied on her takedowns and ground-and-pound to get the nod from the judges. With UFC triumphs over Eubanks, Tonya Evinger and Lina Lansberg already under her belt, Ladd will attempt to further bolster her resume when she faces ex-featherweight queen Germaine de Randamie in the UFC Sacramento main event on July 13.

6. Cat Zingano (10-4)

It was something of an anticlimactic featherweight debut in the Octagon for Zingano, whose UFC 232 matchup with Megan Anderson ended prematurely when “Alpha” Cat suffered an eye injury due to a kick. Zingano has lost four of her last five bouts, dating back to a loss in a 135-pound title bout against Ronda Rousey at UFC 184.

7. Raquel Pennington (9-7)

The four-fight winning streak that earned Pennington a title shot — and featured victories over Miesha Tate and Jessica Andrade — feels like a distant memory now. Returning to action following a lopsided defeat to Amanda Nunes at UFC 224, Pennington struggled to make much happen in a clear-cut decision loss to Germaine de Randamie at UFC Fight Night Denver. “Rocky” now owns a 6-4 promotional mark but will need to regain some momentum in 2019. That starts with a matchup against Irene Aldana at UFC on ESPN 4 on July 20.

8. Yana Kunitskaya (12-4)

Kunitskaya’s face was a bloody mess following a rough third round against Marion Reneau at UFC Wichita, but fortunately the Russian competitor had already banked the first two frames to earn a unanimous decision in their bantamweight encounter. The former Invicta FC titlist has now won two straight UFC appearances at 135 pounds since falling to Cristiane Justino in a featherweight title bout in her Octagon debut.

9. Lina Lansberg (9-4)

Lansberg hasn’t been given an easy road during her UFC tenure, facing the likes of Cristiane Justino, Aspen Ladd and Yana Kunitskaya during her six-bout stint. The Swedish “Elbow Queen” came up big at UFC Stockholm, earning a dominant unanimous verdict over former Invicta champ Tonya Evinger in a preliminary 135-pound tilt. The victory improved Lansberg’s UFC mark to 3-3 and gives her some legs in a shallow division. The 37-year-old also boasts a pair of wins over bubble lister Lucie Pudilova on her resume.

10. Tonya Evinger (19-8)

Evinger’s introduction to the UFC has been difficult, to say the least. In her third bid to earn her first Octagon triumph, the ex-Invicta champ again came up short, losing a clear-cut decision to Lina Lansberg at UFC Stockholm. That loss comes on the heels of back-to-back TKO defeats to Cristiane Justino and Aspen Ladd. Evinger had been unbeaten in her 11 previous bouts before signing with the Las Vegas-based promotion.

Other Contenders: Marion Reneau, Macy Chiasson, Irene Aldana, Lucie Pudilova, Viviane Araujo.

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