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The heavy-handed Brazilian turned away a game Larissa Pacheco at PFL “Battle of the Giants,” capturing a unanimous decision on Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. By winning her eighth consecutive outing, Cyborg claimed the PFL Superfights belt, adding it to a trophy case that already includes titles from the UFC, Strikeforce, Bellator MMA and Invicta. As long as Amanda Nunes stays retired, it’s hard to deny Cyborg of the top spot in the women’s pound-for-pound rankings. However, with Kayla Harrison in the UFC, Pacheco was the most interesting challenge left for Cyborg. As always, it will remain difficult to find worthwhile opposition for the fearsome Chute Boxe representative in the months to come.
Pacheco, meanwhile, might regret not pushing the pace a little bit more down the stretch as she sees her 10-fight professional winning streak come to an end. The former PFL two-division champion has only lost against top-flight competition during her career, however, and she remains a worthy member of these rankings at No. 12.
Note: Previous rankings listed in brackets.
1. Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino (28-2, 1 NC) | Bellator [1]
Even at 39 years old, “Cyborg” remains the cream of the crop in the women’s featherweight division. She once again proved her supremacy in the PFL “Battle of the Giants” co-main event, where she outdueled Larissa Pacheco for five rounds to capture the promotion’s Superfights belt. The heavy-handed Brazilian has now captured championships in the UFC, PFL, Strikeforce, Bellator and Invicta, making her perhaps the most accomplished female fighter ever. With a lack of depth at 145 pounds, Justino’s next move will prove to be interesting indeed.2. Valentina Shevchenko (24-4-1) | UFC [2]
Shevchenko was a woman on a mission in the UFC 306 co-main event, as she dominated Alexa Grasso with takedowns and positional control en route to a clear-cut unanimous decision triumph at the Sphere in Las Vegas. “Bullet” regains the flyweight belt she lost to Grasso in a massive upset at UFC 285 and evens their trilogy at 1-1-1. Perhaps more impressively, Shevchenko improved to 9-2-1 during her current run of 11 straight title fights, further solidifying her status as the greatest female flyweight of all-time.3. Weili Zhang (25-3) | UFC [3]
While Zhang was potentially robbed of a first-round finish against Xiaonan Yan in the UFC 300 co-main event, the reigning flyweight queen was undeterred, as she kept her focus and rolled to a five-round verdict over her Chinese rival. “Magnum” now has five victories in UFC title bouts to her credit — second most in strawweight history — and she remains head and shoulders above the rest of the contenders in the division. However, Zhang could use another boost like the one she received from her first fight against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in 2020 to raise her star profile to another level.4. Alexa Grasso (16-4-1) | UFC [4]
Grasso spent much of her trilogy bout against Valentina Shevchenko on her back, and the Mexican star paid the price, as she relinquished her flyweight title in a unanimous decision loss at UFC 306. Grasso struggled to find her range on the feet and outside of a couple submission attempts, was unable to seriously threaten her rival over the course of the 25-minute affair. Still, Grasso is 1-1-1 against Shevchenko overall, so she shouldn’t be too far from contention at 125 pounds.5. Manon Fiorot (12-1) | UFC [5]
Fiorot relied on her physical advantages at UFC on ESPN 54, as she cruised to a unanimous decision triumph over Erin Blanchfield in the evening’s main event at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Fiorot’s winning streak now stands at seven, and while it wasn’t an especially enthralling performance, it’s hard to deny the Frenchwoman her place as the division’s No. 1 contender. However, Fiorot might have to wait until Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko square off for a third time after coaching on “The Ultimate Fighter 32” — or even longer than that, depending on the result of their trilogy.6. Erin Blanchfield (12-2) UFC [6]
Blanchfield appeared to be overmatched by the larger Manon Fiorot in the UFC on ESPN 54 main event, as she struggled to close the distance for 25 minutes in a clear-cut unanimous decision defeat. While Blanchfield deserves credit for staying in her opponent’s face until the final horn, the Elmwood Park, New Jersey native missed out on a golden opportunity to assert herself as the division’s No. 1 contender. Instead, “Cold Blooded” will attempt to get back on track against Rose Namajuas at UFC Edmonton on Nov. 2.7. Rose Namajunas (13-6) | UFC [7]
Namajunas was a step ahead of short-notice foe Tracy Cortez throughout their UFC on ESPN 59 headlining encounter, cruising to a unanimous decision at Ball Arena in Denver. After falling to Manon Fiorot in her 125-pound debut, the ex-strawweight queen has rallied to post five-round verdicts over Cortez and Amanda Ribas to establish herself as a person of interest in the flyweight division. She’ll get to make a claim for the next title shot when she squares off against Erin Blanchfield at UFC Edmonton on Nov. 2.8. Julianna Pena (12-5) | UFC [8]
Returning to action at UFC 307 after more than two years away, “The Venezuelan Vixen” picked up right where she left off, edging out Raquel Pennington by split decision to reclaim the title she lost in July 2022. In so doing, the 35-year-old Washington state native became one of the unlikeliest two-time champs in UFC history, proving that when healthy, she can hold her own with anyone. While she used her moment in the spotlight to try and goad retired former champ Amanda Nunes into a rubber match, it seems much more likely that the first title defense of her second reign will be either a rematch with Pennington, or against surging newcomer Kayla Harrison.9. Taila Santos (22-3) | PFL [9]
Santos mixed clean combination striking with opportunistic grappling to take a hard-fought unanimous verdict over Bellator flyweight queen Liz Carmouche in the PFL semifinals on Aug. 2. Santos, who came up short in her bid for UFC gold at 125 pounds, will get a crack at $1 million and the PFL flyweight crown against Dakota Ditcheva later this year.10. Seika Izawa (14-0) | Rizin [10]
Izawa kept her undefeated record intact at Rizin 48, outdueling Kanna Asakura over three entertaining rounds in a non-title, super atomweight bout at Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, on Sept. 29. The reigning Rizin and two-division Deep champion threatened her opponent with submissions throughout the contest but was unable to get the finish, ending her run of consecutive submission victories at four. Nonetheless, Izawa solidified her position as one of the top female fighters in the world regardless of weight class.Other Contenders: Raquel Pennington, Larissa Pacheco, Kayla Harrison, Liz Carmouche, Virna Jandiroba.
Sherdog’s divisional and pound-for-pound rankings are compiled by a panel of Sherdog.com staff members and contributors: Tristen Critchfield, Mike Fridley, Brian Knapp, Ben Duffy, Jay Pettry, Marcelo Alonso, Keith Shillan, Tyler Treese, Sayan Nag and Robert Sargent.