Best UFC Women’s Bantamweights of All Time: Top 9 135-Pound Greats Ranked
Women’s bantamweight (135 lbs) is the UFC division that launched modern women’s MMA into the mainstream—then kept evolving from Rousey’s blitz finishes to Nunes’ all-time greatness, to a deeper, more technical era.
This ranking weighs championship achievements (wins/defenses), quality of opponents, how dominant their peak looked, and how much they shaped the weight class.
Best UFC Women’s Bantamweights of All Time: Top 9 Ranked
1) Amanda Nunes
The most complete 135-pound champion ever: a long first reign with five defenses, plus the division’s best overall title-fight résumé (UFC’s stats list her with eight women’s bantamweight title-fight wins).
She also has the era-defining exclamation point—flattening Rousey in 48 seconds—and a who’s-who list of big-fight wins across multiple generations.
2) Ronda Rousey
Rousey is the division’s original force of nature: six title defenses and a run that turned women’s MMA into appointment viewing.
Even if the sport caught up to her style, her peak (and the cultural impact of it) is still unmatched at 135.
3) Miesha Tate
Tate’s greatness is part résumé, part attitude—she kept coming back to the top, then finally seized the belt with the famous late submission of Holm at UFC 196.
She’s also a key figure in the division’s biggest rivalry era, and her toughness translated across multiple waves of contenders.
4) Holly Holm
Holm has one of the most important wins in UFC history: the head-kick knockout that ended Rousey’s reign at UFC 193.
Even without defenses, that moment—and her ability to hang at the top level for years—cements her spot in the all-time bantamweight story.
5) Julianna Peña
Peña authored the division’s biggest modern shocker by submitting Nunes to win the title at UFC 269, then later reclaimed the belt again by edging Pennington at UFC 307.
Her case is built on pressure, grit, and proving she can win the highest-stakes fights—even when she isn’t the favorite.
6) Raquel Pennington
Pennington’s legacy is elite-level longevity at 135 and finally breaking through for the belt when she beat Mayra Bueno Silva for the vacant title at UFC 297.
Even without a defense, she spent years as a “nobody wants that matchup” contender and earned her championship moment the hard way.
7) Valentina Shevchenko
Shevchenko wasn’t a UFC champion at 135, but she absolutely belongs on a bantamweight greats list: she fought for (and stayed near) the top of the division before building a title legacy at flyweight.
At her best, she brought a level of striking craft and composure that helped raise the division’s overall standard.
8) Cat Zingano
Zingano’s peak contender run matters: she was a true threat in the Rousey era and remained a fixture around the top for years.
Her claim is less about belts and more about being one of the toughest outs the division produced—strong, physical, and hard to overwhelm.
9) Kayla Harrison
It’s early, but “champion” counts: Harrison is the current UFC women’s bantamweight champ, winning the title via submission of Peña at UFC 316.
With zero defenses so far, she’s ranked on projection + immediate impact—one more big win and she’ll start climbing fast.
Just missed: Sara McMann (an Olympic-caliber presence who reached a UFC title fight) and Germaine de Randamie (elite striker who stayed in the title orbit at 135 despite doing her UFC champion work at 145).
