Four Women Who Made Their Mark In MMA

Although it didn’t become as popular as its male counterparts, women’s mixed martial arts have been in existence since 1993. Strikeforce was known to be the first major promotion to headline with female fighters, and some of those matches pave the path for women to play a pivotal role in the mixed martial arts industry in the future, as they were able to rake in a considerable audience.

Over the years, we’ve witnessed many women fighter make their marks in the mixed martial arts industry. In this article, we will be looking at some of these women.

Ronda Rousey

Ronda Rousey is easily one of the most famous MMA artists across the globe. You can even argue that she changed the world of mixed martial arts along with the way fans and promoters viewed female fighters including non GamStop betting sites.

Being a bronze medalist in Judo at the Olympics, Rousey was able to make a name for herself in the MMA as she submitted all opponents in first-round armbars. This style of hers brought immense hype to Rousey as she earned a shot at the Strikeforce Bantamweight title against Miesha Tate, and she won through the first-round armbar. The revenue generated during Rousey’s matches made UFC president Dana White change his mind about women’s MMA, and he went on to create a women’s division.

Amanda Nunes

Famously called the “Lioness”, Amanda Nunes is considered – to some – the most dominant women’s champion in mixed martial arts history. Her legendary acts began after signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and the rest became history as she defeated formidable opponents like Sara McMann, Valentina Shevchenko and Germaine de Randamie.

This gave her a shot at claiming the UFC’s women’s bantamweight belt that was being held by Miesha Tate then. Nunes defeated Tate following a first-round submission, then proceeded to knock out Ronda Rousey in her next match. She defeated her belt several times before moving up to the featherweight division to challenge for the belt being held by Cyborg at the time. She dropped an impressive performance to win, and she went on to defend the title a couple of times before losing the bantamweight title to Juliana Pena at UFC 269. However, she reclaimed her title shortly after.

Cris Cyborg

Cris Cyborg first became famous throughout MMA after ending the long reign of Gina Carano in 2009, to become the new face of female mixed martial arts. Despite being a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, Cyborg faced adversity in her early career, having been defeated in her first match. But she went on impressive winning streaks, as she won her next 20 fights while claiming three champion belts along the way.

We got to watch her performance against Amanda Nunes at UFC 232, which became her first defeat in over 13 years after being knocked out in the first round. She is the only fighter in MMA history to win titles in four major promotions.

Valentina Shevchenko

Valentina Shevchenko is an eight-tie Muay Thai champion, but her journey wasn’t always smooth. Following a failed campaign at the bantamweight title, Shevchenko had to drop to the flyweight division to battle against Joana Jędrzejczyk for the vacant title. A battle she won by unanimous decision, and she was able to defend the title seven times ever since the battle.