In-Depth
Women to Watch
Champions, challengers, breakout stars: 5 contenders seeking the spotlight, and PPV gold, on the UFC Octagon.
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Holly Holm
Albuquerque, N.M.
Bantamweight
12-4
To be the woman, you have to beat the woman. The first person to defeat Ronda Rousey in the octagon entered that match with a great story, but a slim chance of success. A two-time Ring magazine fighter of the year as a boxer, Holm was a 6-1 underdog when she shocked the MMA world with a crushing kick that finished Rousey in the second round late in 2015. Holm’s reign was brief: She lost the women’s bantamweight title less than three months later and is 2-5 since beating Rousey. She remains eminently marketable, though, appearing in a Mountain Dew “Let’s Do” commercial spot this year.
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Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Olsztyn, Poland
Former strawweight champion
15-3
After Ronda Rousey lost, it looked for a while like Jedrzejczyk — known better as simply Joanna — would inherit her fan base, if not her belt. Unbeaten in her first nine professional MMA fights, she became the UFC’s first women’s strawweight champion and held the title for 966 days, which was only 78 days shy of Rousey’s reign as a bantamweight. But for all her infectious personality and vicious fighting style, Jedrzejcyzk hit a dry spell, losing the belt late in 2017, dropping a rematch and then falling in another title fight, this time against the ascending Valentina Shevchenko. She bounced back with a big win headlining an ESPN+ card in October and remains in the mix for big fights.
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Zhang Weili
Handon, Hebel, China
Strawweight champion
19-1
The first UFC champion to emerge from China, the former fitness instructor made her UFC debut last August at Staples Center, then fought once in Beijing before making it to the main card headlined by Jon “Bones” Jones in March. Weili won the strawweight title as the headliner of an ESPN+ card from Shenzhen, China, in August, setting up an intriguing storyline and a breakthrough opportunity for the UFC in that country, where it has cultivated an audience for a decade but never with the benefit of a homegrown star.
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Amanda Nunes
Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
Bantamweight and Featherweight champion
17-4
It was Nunes who held the title when Ronda Rousey returned to fighting one year after her loss to Holly Holm, intent upon recapturing her belt. And it was Nunes who dispatched Rousey by TKO in only 48 seconds, ending her UFC career. Nunes’ defeat of Rousey gave the sport the definitive succession that best serves the combat genre. She has since dominated women’s MMA, winning her past nine fights and becoming the first woman to hold belts in two weight classes simultaneously. Nunes also maintains the UFC’s long-standing lineage of popular Brazilian champions.
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Valentina Shevchenko
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Flyweight champion
17-3
A decorated Muay Thai fighter and kickboxer, Shevchenko has lost twice in nine UFC appearances, but both of those were to Amanda Nunes, undisputedly the baddest woman in MMA. A decision win against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in December earned Shevchenko the flyweight championship, which she since has successfully defended twice. Personable and with a keen understanding of social media (1.3 million Instagram followers), Shevchenko likely will do the work necessary to build a fan base if she can maintain the title.
