Despite Dana White once claiming that women will never take part in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, female MMA has certainly progressed a great deal. In fact, some female fighters are pulling in huge audiences and have risen up the rankings in terms of their popularity, even bringing in larger viewership figures than many male fighters out there.
A lot of the hype around modern-day women’s MMA has to be credited to former fighter Ronda Rousey, the first female athlete to be signed to the UFC. Rousey tends to be remembered for her shock defeat to Holly Holm, which left her in a bad state, but many could argue that her work was already done anyway. Rousey played an integral role in the landscape of women’s fighting today, a growing sport that has since gone on to reach global audiences and made numerous legends. Since Rousey, a number of fighters have gone on to record remarkable success and have taken part in some epic clashes much like her face-off with Holm was. With that in mind, here’s a look back at some of the best female fights in UFC history.
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk vs Claudia Gadelha 1 (Ultimate Fighter 23 Finale, 2014)
A fight from 2014 which many people will never forget, Joanna Jedrzejczyk and Claudia Gadelha went toe-to-toe in a hard-fought battle which Joanna Jedrzejczyk initially dominated, defending against four of the five takedown attempts by the Brazilian. From there, Joanna Jedrzejczyk dug deep and held on to register a massive win which was shrouded in controversy due to a mixture of some refereeing issues and a thrown punch just after the final bell from Claudia Gadelha. From a tense battle to controversy surrounding the final decision, this fight had it all.
Amanda Nunes vsValentina Shevchenko I (UFC 196, 2016)
A truly memorable back and forth featuring two excellent fighters, the bout between Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko in 2016 was a truly epic one. Taking place as the main event of UFC 196, fans of the sport were left in amazement after indulging in a truly up and down clash. From Nunes hammering into Shevchenko in the early rounds to the fighter from Kyrgyzstan eventually getting some joy of her own only to eventually fall to a defeat against Nunes, it was a fight that had everything. Fans of the sport will be hoping a similar spectacle is served up in December when Amanda Nunes takes on Julianna Pena. Pena earned her shot at Nunes with a third-round submission win over Sara McCann in January but is the undoubted 19/4 underdog heading into the clash, although as Jeff Fox points out, there are valid reasons to back the underdog, with 33% of betting underdogs winning the eventual fight. Should Nunes put on a performance similar to the one we saw against Shevchenko, though, then she’ll surely prove too strong for Pena.
Miesha Tate vs Holly Holm (UFC 196, 2016)
Somewhat understandably, given the shock result that it was, but Holly Holm’s victory against Ronda Rousey gets covered a fair bit, although her amazing battle with Miesha Tate is hard to forget too. Holm dominated the early stages of the fight, illustrating her strengthened takedown defence in particular and leaving Tate with very little to build. Remarkably, though, Miesha Tate managed to withstand a fair bit of punishment before securing a takedown of her own and eventually holding on to secure the unlikeliest of victories in UFC history.
Jessica Andrade vs Angela Hill (UFC Fight Night 104, 2017)
Jessica Andrade eventually won this tear up with Angela Hill, but it was most definitely hard to separate the two of them overall. Right from the onset, both fighters let rip with a number of notable attacks, with Andrade perhaps finding more success on occasions than her opponent. The back and forth continued, though, with neither fighter looking like they were prepared to give in. In fact, that’s exactly why the judges had to step in on this one and make the decision, eventually handing the win to Andrade by unanimous decision.
