With the growing popularity of women’s MMA, it is important to recognize these women with a rankings system of their own. Between the UFC’s inclusion of weight classes from strawweight up to featherweight, PFL/Bellator’s increasing attention to the women’s side of the sport, and the all-female promotion Invicta FC, more and more women are being exposed to casual and hardcore fans alike.

Every month, Combat Press compiles the staff’s individual rankings from featherweight to atomweight to create the Combat Press Women’s MMA Rankings.

Featherweight (61.9-66.3 kilograms)

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Cris “Cyborg” Justino (1)

Larissa Pacheco (2)

Cat Zingano (3)

Olena Kolesnyk (4)

Aspen Ladd (5)

Sara Collins (6)

Leah McCourt (7)

Sara McCann (8)

Arlene Blencowe (9)

Jamie Edenden (10)

The year ended with the best featherweight in the world solidifying her status, as Cris “Cyborg” Justino put away top contender Sara Collins. As of right now, no top-fighters are scheduled to fight in January.

Bantamweight (52.8-57.2 kilograms)

Kayla Harrison (1)

Julianna Pena (2)

Raquel Pennington (3)

Holly Holm (4)

Norma Dumont (5)

Jacqueline Cavalcanti (6)

Mayra Bueno Silva (7)

Ketlen Vieira (8)

Irene Aldana (9)

Ailin Perez (10)

No top-10 fighters competed in the month of December. Looking into January, Kayla Harrison is set to make her first title defense against former champ Amanda Nunes, who is coming out of retirement for this fight.

Flyweight (52.8-57.2 kilograms)

Valentina Shevchenko (1)

Natalia Silva (2)

Alexa Grasso (3)

Manon Fiorot (4)

Erin Blanchfield (5)

Maycee Barber (6)

Rose Namajunas (7)

Dakota Ditcheva (8)

Taila Santos (9)

Liz Carmouche (10)

The year ended well for Maycee Barber, as she stayed in the title picture with a win over Karine Silva. Looking into January, Natalia Silva will look to stay a top contender when she takes on former UFC Champion Rose Namajunas.

Strawweight (50.1-52.7 kilograms)

Weili Zhang (1)

Tatiana Suarez (2)

Mackenzie Dern (3)

Virna Jandiroba (4)

Xiaonan Yan (5)

Amanda Lemos (6)

Tabatha Ricci (7)

Iasmin Lucindo (8)

Amanda Ribas (9)

Denise Gomes (10)

No top-10 fighters competed in the month of December. As of right now, no top-fighters are scheduled to fight in January.

Atomweight (Under 50.1 kilograms)

Seika Izawa (1)

Elisandra Ferreira (2)

Si Woo Park (3)

Saori Oshima (4)

Moeri Suda (5)

Ayaka Hamasaki (6)

Rena Kubota (7)

Kanna Asakura (8)

Ana Palacios (9)

Monique Adriane (10)

The year ended with Seika Izawa continuing to assert her dominance over the atomweight division, as she bested Rena Kubota to move to 18-0. As of right now, no top-fighters are scheduled to fight in January.

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