UFC Women’s Bantamweight | Rankings, Champion & Title History

Current Champion: Julianna Pena

Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Peña won the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship on December 11, 2021. She defeated Amanda “The Lioness” Nunes by submission at UFC 269 to take the title.

History of the UFC Women’s Bantamweight Division

The UFC Women’s Bantamweight Division saw the first-ever female fight in the UFC, with inaugural champion Ronda Rousey facing off against Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 in February 2013. Since then, the division has only seen three more women crowned champion, including incumbent belt-holder and No.1 female P4P fighter, Amanda Nunes. 

After inheriting the UFC belt as Strikeforce Bantamweight champion in December 2012, Rousey dominated the division for almost three years, defending her belt a total of six times. She finished every challenger, with five fights stopped in Round 1. Rousey became one of the UFC’s biggest stars and is credited with inspiring more women to join the sport.

Rousey lost her belt to kickboxer Holly Holm at UFC 193 in one of the biggest upsets in UFC history. Holm would go on to lose against former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate in her first defence just a few months later. 

Tate’s first defence was the headline fight at UFC 200 in July 2016, where she fought Amanda Nunes. Nunes dominated the fight and won via rear-naked choke in the first round. Since then, Nunes has seen off five challengers and looked almost unstoppable in the process, holding both the Bantamweight and Featherweight belts simultaneously since December 2018.

Amanda Nunes will defend her belt for the 6th time at UFC 269, against The Ultimate Fighter winner Julianna Pena (10-4).

Rousey and Carmouche make history

Prior to UFC 157 on 6th February 2013, there had never been a female fight in the UFC. In 2011, when asked if we would ever see women fight in the UFC, president Dana White responded with “never.” Yet one year later, the UFC announced it had signed rising star and Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey.

Rousey was crowned champion before a single punch was thrown owing to her Strikeforce belt. Her first defence, and the UFC’s first-ever female fight, would be at UFC 157 against Liz Carmouche. A former U.S Marine with a nasty ground game, Carmouche had all the skills necessary to spoil the party.

6-0 at the time, Rousey had finished every single opponent in the first round via armbar. Braving early adversity against a Carmouche choke, Rousey turned the tide and submitted her opponent, again by armbar in Round 1.

The first female UFC star

Ronda Rousey reigned as one of the most dominant champions in UFC history, defending the belt a total of six times. She secured yet another armbar victory in her next defence, this time in Round 3 against Miesha Tate. The first KO/TKO of her career came next, stopping Sara McMann with a series of brutal knees in just one minute at UFC 170.

Three more rapid first-round finishes followed, with all three challengers stopped in under a minute. This included a 16-second KO of Alexis Davis and a 14-second armbar against Cat Zingano. Rousey was dispatching her opponents with seeming ease and came into her 7th title defence against Holly Holm as the overwhelming favorite. 

Holly Holm shocks the world

UFC 193 saw one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when unbeaten Rousey (12-0) fought kickboxer Holly Holm (9-0). Bookmakers had Holm as a +1200 underdog going into the fight. In front of a capacity crowd of 56,214 in Melbourne, Australia, Holm tagged Rousey with a left in Round 2 and finished the fight with a vicious high kick.

Holm defended her belt just a few months later at UFC 196 against former Strikeforce Bantamweight champion, Miesha Tate. Tate had lost title fights to Rousey in both organizations but was riding a 4-fight streak going into the fight.

Tate, despite scoring a dominant 10-8 in Round 2, lost every other round and was down 38-37 on all three judges’ scorecards going into the 5th and final round. However, with 90 seconds of the fight to go, she finished Holm with a rear-naked choke to claim the title.

Rise of the female G.O.A.T

Miesha Tate’s first title defence would be against Brazilian standout Amanda Nunes (12-4) at UFC 200. Despite entering the fight as an underdog, Nunes pieced her up on the feet and finished the fight via rear-naked choke in Round 1. 

This would be the beginning of an indomitable reign as champion which continues to this day. Nunes has defended her title in emphatic fashion since then, finishing four out of six challengers. 

Her first defence saw the much-anticipated return of Ronda Rousey after her shock defeat to Holly Holm one year earlier. Headlining UFC 207, Nunes vs. Rousey proved to be a one-sided affair, with Nunes repeatedly stunning Rousey on the feet before getting the TKO finish after just 48 seconds.

Cementing her throne

Amanda Nunes next defended her title against Valentina Shevchenko, herself now a dominant champion in the 115lb division. A world-class kickboxing and Muay Thai practitioner, Shevchenko (14-2) lost a three-round decision to Nunes 18 months prior to their title bout. Nunes edged the fight and retained her belt by split decision at UFC 215.

This would be the sternest test Nunes would face in her Bantamweight reign. The next challenger to bite the dust was Raquel Pennington in a five-round battering at UFC 224, eventually succumbing to a TKO.

First female Double-Champ

Nunes took a one-year hiatus from the Bantamweight division to move up a weight class and challenge Featherweight champion, Cris Cyborg. On a 21-fight unbeaten streak, ferocious knockout artist Cyborg (20-1-1, 17 KOs) was the favorite in her third Featherweight title defence. During the brief but chaotic 51-second fight, Nunes wobbled Cyborg twice before sending her face-first into the canvas with an overhand right. 

She became the third double-champ in UFC history after Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier, and the first female to achieve the honor. Nunes defended her Bantamweight belt two more times, knocking out Holly Holm with a head kick in Round 1 at UFC 239 and dominating Germaine de Randamie by decision at UFC 245.

Amanda Nunes’ next title defence will be against Julianna Pena at UFC 269.

UFC Women’s Bantamweight Rankings