1. Cristiane Santos
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Santos has the most amount of successful title defenses for a women’s MMA fighter in history. Although stripped of her crown due usage of a prohibited drug, her dominance has been astonishing. With only one defeat in her career, if she can return clean, her impact on women’s MMA is likely to remain considerable.
She also boasts a flawless record in kickboxing, and just one defeat in submission grappling. She has gained two gold medals in world jiu-jitsu, and one bronze in submission wrestling.
2. Ronda Rousey ronda-rousey
Rousey is unbeaten in both amateur and professional MMA, winning all of her contests via armbar submission. She has both won, and defended, the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship, and has become the first woman fighter to officially sign with the UFC. She is also an Olympic medallist in judo, and has won gold medals in the Pan-American Judo Championship.
3. Marloes Coenen
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Coenen has fought the most of any of the women on this list, having collected a record of twenty victories and five defeats in her professional career. In 2010, she beat Sarah Kaufman to win the second-ever Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion, a title which she successfully defended as well. Since losing her championship, she headlined the first all-female show for the Invicta Fighting Championship, and added another win to her record.
4. Sarah Kaufman
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Kaufman has only endured two defeats in her career, but has otherwise had her hand raised in triumph an amazing fifteen times. She was the first-ever Hardcore Championship Fighting Women’s Bantamweight Champion, and subsequently added the Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Championship to her mantel.
5. Miesha Tate miesha-tate
Tate is the first woman to ever win a Strikeforce tournament, and is a past Strikeforce women’s champion as well. She has won thirteen MMA matches, including a silver medal in a global grappling tournament. She also featured in a documentary about the sport called Fight Life.
6. Zoila Gurgel
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Gurgel is the current, and only-ever, Bellator Women’s Champion. Her spouse is also a prominent MMA fighter, who featured as a participant on the famed Ultimate Fighter television programme.
7. Gina Joy Carano
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Carano is one of the most renowned female mixed-martial artists around. Despite never winning a major title, and not having fought since 2009, she also only has one defeat in her whole career. Carano’s crossover success includes action figures, a spell on American Gladiators, and a Hollywood career as an action hero, in films such as Haywire and Fast Six.
8. Felice Nicole Herrig felice-herring
Herrig has won seven professional MMA bouts, and has won the International Kickboxing Federation Pro Muay Thai United States Bantamweight Title. She has also twice been the International Kickboxing Federation Open Tournament Champion.
9. Erica Montoya erica-montoya
Montoya is the first woman to ever feature as a playable character in an MMA video game. She has an MMA record of six victories and two defeats. She was one of the youngest women to ever compete professionally, at seventeen years of age, and almost became the first woman to fight in the UFC. She has also gained success participating in jiu-jitsu and submission wrestling.
10. Michele “Diablita” Gutierrez
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Gutierrez has won three professional MMA bouts, and two professional boxing battles. She is the first girl to appear on Wanderlei Silva’s legendary combat squad. She also engages in numerous humanitarian initiatives, including breast cancer awareness and resistance to human trafficking.