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. After Justino parted ways with the UFC, Nunes was booked against de Randamie in a bantamweight title tilt at UFC 245 on Dec. 14.

2. Germaine de Randamie (9-3)

De Randamie made a great case to be the bantamweight No. 1 contender at UFC Sacramento, where she starched the previously unbeaten Aspen Ladd in just 16 seconds in the evening’s headliner. That makes five consecutive victories for the Dutch kickboxer, a streak that also includes wins over Raquel Pennington and Holly Holm. With Cristiane Justino out of the picture, “The Iron Lady” will get a chance to avenge a previous loss to Amanda Nunes when they square off for 135-pound gold at UFC 245.

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. Holm was slated to rematch Raquel Pennington at UFC 243 in Melbourne, but the Jackson-Wink MMA product had to pull out of the matchup due to injury.

4. Aspen Ladd (8-1)

From a draining weight-cut to a disappointing knockout defeat at the hands of Germaine de Randamie, UFC Sacramento was not an event to remember for Ladd. Despite the controversial nature of the stoppage, Ladd was not in a good position after being dropped by a de Randamie right hand at the outset of the evening’s headliner, and it’s unclear if she could have recovered enough to rally against her veteran foe. Still, Ladd is just 24 years old and has plenty of room for development as her career progresses. She will attempt to get back on track when she faces Yana Kunitskaya at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7

5. 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. The 37-year-old Zingano has been released from her UFC contract, spelling an uncertain future for the Colorado native.

6. Raquel Pennington (10-7)

Pennington garnered a much-needed victory at UFC on ESPN 4, halting a two-bout skid with a split-decision triumph against Irene Aldana in San Antonio. Pennington, a former title challenger who owns notable wins against the likes of Miesha Tate, Jessica Andrade and Roxanne Modafferi, now has seven bantamweight victories inside the Octagon — the second most in the history of the division behind only reigning champion Amanda Nunes. Pennington was supposed to face Holly Holm in a rematch at UFC 243, but “The Preacher’s Daughter” was forced to exit the card due to injury.

7. 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. She’ll look to make it three in a row against Aspen Ladd at UFC on ESPN 7 in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 7.

8. Lina Lansberg (10-4)

Lansberg earned her second consecutive Octagon triumph at UFC Fight Night 160, taking a unanimous decision over “The Ultimate Fighter 28” winner Macy Chiasson in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Sept. 28. After a slow start, “Elbow Queen” rallied over the final 10 minutes, landing takedowns in Rounds 2 and 3 to hand Chiasson her first career defeat. After a rough start to her promotional tenure that included losses to Cristiane Justino, Aspen Ladd and Yana Kunitskaya, the 37-year-old Swede has posted back-to-back triumphs over Chiasson and Tonya Evninger.

9. 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.

10. Marion Reneau (9-5-1)

Reneau certainly left her mark on Yana Kunitskaya at UFC Fight Night 146, battering and bloodying her opponent’s nose with punches in the third round of their encounter in Wichita, Kan., on March 9. However, “The Belizean Bruiser” was clearly outstruck for the majority of the fight, resulting in a unanimous decision defeat. After compiling a four-fight unbeaten streak from November 2016 to February 2018, Reneau has dropped back-to-back fights against Kunitskaya and Cat Zingano.

Other Contenders: Irene Aldana, Macy Chiasson, Lucie Pudilova, Viviane Araujo, Bethe Correia.

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