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You read that correctly, fellow Sherdoggians—I said WMMA GOATs. I.e., the best female mixed martial artists we’ve seen so far. This should be a topic that sets Sherdog on fire 
But I think it’s important to do this, to begin to try and codify who the very best female athletes are that we’ve seen, same as we do in men’s MMA. And in light of the great wins from Val and Rose the other night, I think the topic is timely.
EXPLANATION OF CRITERIA:
When I compile GOAT lists, I do it based on overall resume and accomplishments. I look at categories such as championships won, number of title defenses, number of ranked wins, and the always popular criteria of former/future champions beaten. This is particularly tough to do with WMMA, as not all the big promotions have always had women’s divisions—and ones that did, didn’t always have rankings. So for the purpose of this thread, I will be using the criteria of: Notable Wins, Championships Won, Title Defenses, Former/Future Champions Beaten, as well as Losses.
DISCLAIMERS: I will attempt to rank fighters regardless of PED failures. Additionally, I will be listing championships won in in smaller orgs. We don’t do this with men’s MMA, but I found it necessary as major promotions did not always have women’s divisions. Yes, I know that not all championships are equal. While GOAT lists are always somewhat subjective, this one is more so than usual, due to the fact that WMMA in general is newer in its growth than men’s MMA. In the event that these criteria seemed equivalent for two or more fighters, I then looked at whether these fighters had fought one another, and the outcome. Because of all this, I expect a fair amount of controversy.
Well, that and neckbeards who still can’t handle the fact that it’s 2021 and women compete in all sorts of athletics.
Without further ado, here are my Top 10.
10. JULIA BUDD
Record: 15-3
Notable wins: 3 (GDR, Arlene Blencowe, Marloes Coenen)
Championships won: 1 (Bellator)
Title defenses: 3
Champs beaten: 3 (GDR, Blencowe x 2, Coenen)
Losses: Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg
Budd is a Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer, who also has a 10-2 kickboxing record. She made her pro MMA debut in 2010, and has fought for Strikeforce, Invicta, and Bellator.
9. HOLLY HOLM
Record: 14-5
Notable wins: 6 (Pennington x 2, Reneau, Rousey, Correia, Anderson, Aldana)
Championships won: 1 (UFC)
Title defenses: 0
Champs beaten: 2 (Rousey and Anderson)
Losses: Tate, Schevchenko, De Randamie, Cyborg, Nunes
Holly is a boxer (33-2-3) and kickboxer (22-1-7) who made her pro MMA debut in 2011. She has fought for Legacy FC, Bellator, Invicta, the UFC, and others.
8. MIESHA TATE
Record: 18-7
Notable wins: 5 (Coenen, Carmouche, McMann, Eye, and Holm)
Championships won: 3 (FCF, Strikeforce, UFC)
Title defenses: 1 (FCF title. 0 successful defenses of SF and UFC titles)
Champs beaten: 2 (Coenen and Holm)
Losses: Young, Kaufman, Rousey x 2, Zingano, Nunes, Pennington
Miesha started wrestling in high school, then later trained jiu jitsu. She made her pro debut in 2007, and competed in BodogFight, FCF, Strikeforce, UFC, and others.
7. MARLOES COENEN
Record: 23-8
Notable wins: 5 (Kondo, Modafferi, Carmouche, Kaufman, Blencowe)
Championships won: 1 (Strikeforce)
Title defenses: 1
Champs beaten: 3 (Modafferi, Blencowe, Kaufman)
Losses: Toughill, Modafferi, Dandois, Cyborg x 2, Tate, Dufresne, Budd.
Marloes started training martial arts at age 14, and made her pro MMA debut in the year 2000. She has fought in organizations such as Shooto, Smackgirl, ReMix, K-Grace, Strikeforce, Invicta, DREAM, and Bellator.
(Yes, there was an org called “Smackgirl.” I did not make that up. Maybe not the best branding, in retrospect.)
6. CRIS CYBORG
Record: 23-2-1
Notable wins: 8 (Baszler, Carano, Coenen x2, Holm, Kunitskaya, Spencer, Budd, Blencowe)
Championships won: 4 (Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC, Bellator)
Title defenses: 8
Champs beaten: 7 (Baszler, Coenen x 2, Smith, Holm, Evinger, Budd, Blencowe)
Losses: Erica Paes, Amanda Nunes
1 NC due to PED test failure
Cyborg has a Muay Thai base, and debuted in 2005. She has a 2-1 Muay Thai record, a 7-1 submission grappling record, and has fought for Storm Samurai, EliteXC, Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC, Bellator, and others.
5. ROSE NAMAJUNAS
Record: 10-4
Notable wins: 7* (Hill, Van Zant, Torres, Waterson, Jedrzejczyk x 2, Andrade, Zhang)
Championships won: 2 (UFC SW title x 2)
Title defenses: 1
Champs beaten: 5 (Hill, Waterson, Jedrzejczyk x 2, Andrade, Zhang)
Losses: Torres, Esparza, Kowalkiewicz, Andrade
*also holds win over Calderwood on TUF. Technically an exhibition
Rose started training Tae Kwan Do at age 5, then later trained karate, kickboxing, and jiu jitsu. Rose made her professional debut in 2013, and has fought in Invicta and the UFC.
4. JOANNA JEDRZEJCZYK
Record: 16-4
Notable wins: 9 (Sexton, Esparza, Penne, Gadelha x 2, Letourneau, Kowalkiewicz, Andrade, Torres, Waterson)
Championships won: 1 (UFC SW)
Title defenses: 5
Champs beaten: 6 (Sexton, Esparza, Penne, Andrade, Kowalkiewicz, Waterson)
Losses: Namajunas x 2, Schevchenko, Zhang
Joanna is a Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer. She started training Muay Thai at 16, and made her pro MMA debut in 2012. She has an amateur Muay Thai record of 40-3, and a kickboxing record of 30-3. She has won 5 gold medals and one silver in Muay Thai world championships, and fought MMA in PLMMA, CWFC, UFC, and other orgs.
3. VALENTINA SCHEVCHENKO
Record: 21-3
Notable wins: 9 (Kaufman, Holm, Pena, Jedrzejczyk, Eye, Carmouche, Chookagian, Maia, Andrade)
Championships won: 1 (UFC FLW)
Title defenses: 5
Champs beaten: 4 (Kaufman, Holm, Jedrzejczyk, Andrade)
Losses: Carmouche, Nunes x 2
Valentina is a Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer. She started training Tae Kwan Do at age 5, Muay Thai at age 12, and then Vale Tudo. She has a kickboxing record of 57-2, won 8 gold medals and one silver in Muay Thai world championships, and has a 2-0 pro boxing record. She has fought in many MMA orgs including Legacy, Fusion, and UFC.
2. RONDA ROUSEY
Record: 12-2
Notable wins: 8 (Budd, Tate x 2, Kaufman, Carmouche, McMann, Davis, Zingano, Correia)
Championships won: 1* (Strikeforce BW, later promoted to UFC BW)
Title defenses: 7
Champs beaten: 5 (Budd, Tate x 2, Kaufman, Davis, Zingano)
Losses: Holm, Nunes
Ronda began training judo at age 11. She has won a variety of medals in the Pan Am Games, Pan Am Championships, World Judo Championships, and was a bronze medalist in judo in the 2008 Olympic Games. She made her MMA pro debut in 2011, and has fought in KOTC, HKFC, Strikeforce, and UFC.
1. AMANDA NUNES
Record: 21-4
Notable wins: 11 (Budd, De Randamie x 2, Baszler, Schevchenko x 2, McMann, Rousey, Pennington, Cyborg, Holm, Spencer, Anderson)
Championships won: 2 (UFC BW, and UFC FW, held simultaneously)
Title defenses: 7 (UFC BW x 5, UFC FW x 2)
Champs beaten: 10 (Budd, De Randamie x 2, Baszler, Schevchenko x 2, Rousey, Tate, Cyborg, Holm, Spencer, Anderson)
Losses: 4 (Ana Maria, Davis, D’Alelio, Zingano)
Nunes started training capoeira at age 5 and karate when she was 7. She started training jiu jitsu when she was 16. Amanda has fought in Prime: MMA Championship, Samurai FC, Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC, and others.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Germaine De Randamie, Yuka Tsuji, Megumi Fuji, Tara LaRosa, Gina Carano, Cat Zingano.
But I think it’s important to do this, to begin to try and codify who the very best female athletes are that we’ve seen, same as we do in men’s MMA. And in light of the great wins from Val and Rose the other night, I think the topic is timely.
EXPLANATION OF CRITERIA:
When I compile GOAT lists, I do it based on overall resume and accomplishments. I look at categories such as championships won, number of title defenses, number of ranked wins, and the always popular criteria of former/future champions beaten. This is particularly tough to do with WMMA, as not all the big promotions have always had women’s divisions—and ones that did, didn’t always have rankings. So for the purpose of this thread, I will be using the criteria of: Notable Wins, Championships Won, Title Defenses, Former/Future Champions Beaten, as well as Losses.
DISCLAIMERS: I will attempt to rank fighters regardless of PED failures. Additionally, I will be listing championships won in in smaller orgs. We don’t do this with men’s MMA, but I found it necessary as major promotions did not always have women’s divisions. Yes, I know that not all championships are equal. While GOAT lists are always somewhat subjective, this one is more so than usual, due to the fact that WMMA in general is newer in its growth than men’s MMA. In the event that these criteria seemed equivalent for two or more fighters, I then looked at whether these fighters had fought one another, and the outcome. Because of all this, I expect a fair amount of controversy.
Well, that and neckbeards who still can’t handle the fact that it’s 2021 and women compete in all sorts of athletics.
Without further ado, here are my Top 10.
10. JULIA BUDD
Record: 15-3
Notable wins: 3 (GDR, Arlene Blencowe, Marloes Coenen)
Championships won: 1 (Bellator)
Title defenses: 3
Champs beaten: 3 (GDR, Blencowe x 2, Coenen)
Losses: Amanda Nunes, Ronda Rousey, Cris Cyborg
Budd is a Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer, who also has a 10-2 kickboxing record. She made her pro MMA debut in 2010, and has fought for Strikeforce, Invicta, and Bellator.
9. HOLLY HOLM
Record: 14-5
Notable wins: 6 (Pennington x 2, Reneau, Rousey, Correia, Anderson, Aldana)
Championships won: 1 (UFC)
Title defenses: 0
Champs beaten: 2 (Rousey and Anderson)
Losses: Tate, Schevchenko, De Randamie, Cyborg, Nunes
Holly is a boxer (33-2-3) and kickboxer (22-1-7) who made her pro MMA debut in 2011. She has fought for Legacy FC, Bellator, Invicta, the UFC, and others.
8. MIESHA TATE
Record: 18-7
Notable wins: 5 (Coenen, Carmouche, McMann, Eye, and Holm)
Championships won: 3 (FCF, Strikeforce, UFC)
Title defenses: 1 (FCF title. 0 successful defenses of SF and UFC titles)
Champs beaten: 2 (Coenen and Holm)
Losses: Young, Kaufman, Rousey x 2, Zingano, Nunes, Pennington
Miesha started wrestling in high school, then later trained jiu jitsu. She made her pro debut in 2007, and competed in BodogFight, FCF, Strikeforce, UFC, and others.
7. MARLOES COENEN
Record: 23-8
Notable wins: 5 (Kondo, Modafferi, Carmouche, Kaufman, Blencowe)
Championships won: 1 (Strikeforce)
Title defenses: 1
Champs beaten: 3 (Modafferi, Blencowe, Kaufman)
Losses: Toughill, Modafferi, Dandois, Cyborg x 2, Tate, Dufresne, Budd.
Marloes started training martial arts at age 14, and made her pro MMA debut in the year 2000. She has fought in organizations such as Shooto, Smackgirl, ReMix, K-Grace, Strikeforce, Invicta, DREAM, and Bellator.
(Yes, there was an org called “Smackgirl.” I did not make that up. Maybe not the best branding, in retrospect.)
6. CRIS CYBORG
Record: 23-2-1
Notable wins: 8 (Baszler, Carano, Coenen x2, Holm, Kunitskaya, Spencer, Budd, Blencowe)
Championships won: 4 (Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC, Bellator)
Title defenses: 8
Champs beaten: 7 (Baszler, Coenen x 2, Smith, Holm, Evinger, Budd, Blencowe)
Losses: Erica Paes, Amanda Nunes
1 NC due to PED test failure
Cyborg has a Muay Thai base, and debuted in 2005. She has a 2-1 Muay Thai record, a 7-1 submission grappling record, and has fought for Storm Samurai, EliteXC, Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC, Bellator, and others.
5. ROSE NAMAJUNAS
Record: 10-4
Notable wins: 7* (Hill, Van Zant, Torres, Waterson, Jedrzejczyk x 2, Andrade, Zhang)
Championships won: 2 (UFC SW title x 2)
Title defenses: 1
Champs beaten: 5 (Hill, Waterson, Jedrzejczyk x 2, Andrade, Zhang)
Losses: Torres, Esparza, Kowalkiewicz, Andrade
*also holds win over Calderwood on TUF. Technically an exhibition
Rose started training Tae Kwan Do at age 5, then later trained karate, kickboxing, and jiu jitsu. Rose made her professional debut in 2013, and has fought in Invicta and the UFC.
4. JOANNA JEDRZEJCZYK
Record: 16-4
Notable wins: 9 (Sexton, Esparza, Penne, Gadelha x 2, Letourneau, Kowalkiewicz, Andrade, Torres, Waterson)
Championships won: 1 (UFC SW)
Title defenses: 5
Champs beaten: 6 (Sexton, Esparza, Penne, Andrade, Kowalkiewicz, Waterson)
Losses: Namajunas x 2, Schevchenko, Zhang
Joanna is a Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer. She started training Muay Thai at 16, and made her pro MMA debut in 2012. She has an amateur Muay Thai record of 40-3, and a kickboxing record of 30-3. She has won 5 gold medals and one silver in Muay Thai world championships, and fought MMA in PLMMA, CWFC, UFC, and other orgs.
3. VALENTINA SCHEVCHENKO
Record: 21-3
Notable wins: 9 (Kaufman, Holm, Pena, Jedrzejczyk, Eye, Carmouche, Chookagian, Maia, Andrade)
Championships won: 1 (UFC FLW)
Title defenses: 5
Champs beaten: 4 (Kaufman, Holm, Jedrzejczyk, Andrade)
Losses: Carmouche, Nunes x 2
Valentina is a Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer. She started training Tae Kwan Do at age 5, Muay Thai at age 12, and then Vale Tudo. She has a kickboxing record of 57-2, won 8 gold medals and one silver in Muay Thai world championships, and has a 2-0 pro boxing record. She has fought in many MMA orgs including Legacy, Fusion, and UFC.
2. RONDA ROUSEY
Record: 12-2
Notable wins: 8 (Budd, Tate x 2, Kaufman, Carmouche, McMann, Davis, Zingano, Correia)
Championships won: 1* (Strikeforce BW, later promoted to UFC BW)
Title defenses: 7
Champs beaten: 5 (Budd, Tate x 2, Kaufman, Davis, Zingano)
Losses: Holm, Nunes
Ronda began training judo at age 11. She has won a variety of medals in the Pan Am Games, Pan Am Championships, World Judo Championships, and was a bronze medalist in judo in the 2008 Olympic Games. She made her MMA pro debut in 2011, and has fought in KOTC, HKFC, Strikeforce, and UFC.
1. AMANDA NUNES
Record: 21-4
Notable wins: 11 (Budd, De Randamie x 2, Baszler, Schevchenko x 2, McMann, Rousey, Pennington, Cyborg, Holm, Spencer, Anderson)
Championships won: 2 (UFC BW, and UFC FW, held simultaneously)
Title defenses: 7 (UFC BW x 5, UFC FW x 2)
Champs beaten: 10 (Budd, De Randamie x 2, Baszler, Schevchenko x 2, Rousey, Tate, Cyborg, Holm, Spencer, Anderson)
Losses: 4 (Ana Maria, Davis, D’Alelio, Zingano)
Nunes started training capoeira at age 5 and karate when she was 7. She started training jiu jitsu when she was 16. Amanda has fought in Prime: MMA Championship, Samurai FC, Strikeforce, Invicta, UFC, and others.
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Germaine De Randamie, Yuka Tsuji, Megumi Fuji, Tara LaRosa, Gina Carano, Cat Zingano.
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