When we talk about MMA, what we always imagine are the famous male MMA fighters that we know. But as of today, almost all of the MMA promotions in the world have female fighters already and some of them are champions on their respective weight divisions. One of the most notable female MMA fighter is Ronda Rousey, the first UFC and MMA fighter to win the Best Fighter ESPY Award at the 2015 ESPN ESPY awards. A female MMA fighter like Rousey really deserves a spot in this sport. They all deserve the same recognition that male athletes have.
As a start of giving recognition to them, we have prepared a series of posts listing the best female MMA fighters today. The list is not in particular order and this is the Part 1 of it.
Jessica “Jag” Aguilar
Jessica or widely known as Jag is a 34 year old Mexican-born American mixed martial artist that is currently signed with the UFC. She is fighting in the Strawweight Division and is considered as the no. 3 female Strawweight in the world by Sherdog in 2015. On her 24 total fights, 19 are wins and only 5 are losses.
Carla Esparza
Carla Esparza also competes in the Strawweight Division of UFC like Jag Aguilar. She is still 28 years old but already considered as the best strawweight fighter in the world by holding the strawweight championship title on both UFC and Invicta. Widely known for her grappling style, Esparza has a record of 11 wins and 3 losses. She is ranked as the number 2 strawweight fighter in UFC today.
Julianna Peña
Julianna Peña is an American mixed martial artist who is currently fighting in the UFC. The first woman to win The Ultimate Fighter, an American reality tv series and MMA competition that was produced by Fox Sports 1 and UFC. She is ranked as no.5 in official UFC women’s Bantamweight ranking. Peña has a current record of 8 wins and 2 losses.
Holly Holm
Holly Holm is a 34 year old American mixed martial artist that is currently signed in the UFC and fighting in the bantamweight division. She is a former kickboxer and having lots of award in boxing also. Her most notable fight in MMA was at UFC 193 when she fights the undefeated Ronda Rousey by that time. Holm gave the first and only loss by Rousey in MMA that time. That fight is considered as one of the biggest upsets in the sports history. Because of that, she became the first person to win championships in boxing and MMA. Holly Holm has a current MMA record of 10 wins and 1 loss.
Claudia Gadelha
Gadelha currently competes in the Women Strawweight division of UFC. She is a 27 year old Brazilian mixed martial artist who is a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Her current team is the Nova União together with the interim featherweight Champion Jose Aldo. Gadelha has 15 wins and only 2 losses on her MMA career.