Breaking Barriers
Breaking Barriers | The Current Queens Of The Octagon
Examining The Greatness Of UFC’s Current Women’s Titleholders
Women have been kicking ass from the minute Ronda Rousey broke the gender barrier in the UFC and rocketed to superstardom as a result of her exploits inside the Octagon.
From her introductory press conference in Seattle and initial fight with Liz Carmouche at UFC 157 to her becoming a global icon walking the red carpet at the ESPYs and being slogan-checked by Beyonce, Rousey set the template for championship stardom for the current set of UFC titleholders.
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Since then, the women have only continued to thrive.
From Hall of Famers Amanda Nunes and Joanna Jedrzejczyk to standouts like Holly Holm, Rose Namajunas, and Zhang Weili, women have consistently stood as some of the biggest stars and biggest draws in the sport. Today, the three women’s weight classes are helmed by a trio of ultra-impressive stars that have forged unique paths to the top of their respective divisions, and reign with their own signature blend of skill, tenacity, and toughness.
Kayla Harrison
Rousey may have been the first Olympic judo medalist to rise to the top of the women’s bantamweight division, but Harrison is the most accomplished, having claimed gold at both the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics before making her transition to mixed martial arts. After storming out of the gates at a higher weight class and amassing a 16-1 record with a dozen finishes, the American Top Team representative signed with UFC and made her way into the Octagon, dispatching Holm by second-round submission in her promotional debut at UFC 300.
It was the right stage for the debut of the division’s newest badass, and Harrison used it brilliantly, dominating a respected former champion and making it clear that she had only one mission: to win the women’s bantamweight title.
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After a gruelling victory over Ketlen Vieira at UFC 307 in Salt Lake City, the Olympic champion finally got the chance to become UFC champion last June when she faced off with two-time champ Julianna Pena in the co-main event of UFC 316 in Newark, New Jersey. Following a first round where she largely controlled the action on the canvas — and was hit with an illegal kick while grounded that cost Pena a point — Harrison resumed her assault in the second, grounding the champion and forcing her to tap to a swiftly-applied kimura in the closing seconds of the round.
One of the greatest combat sports athletes of her time, Harrison now has her sights set on icon status in the Octagon as she will eventually welcome former two-division Amanda Nunes, universally recognized as the greatest female fighter of all time, back to action. Former teammates in South Florida, this battle has been brewing for some time, and though it was delayed earlier this year, whenever it comes together, it will be one of the biggest fights of the year.
Valentina Shevchenko
While Nunes is considered “The G.O.A.T.” on the women’s side of the sport, her old rival Shevchenko continues to close the distance on “The Lioness” with each subsequent successful title defense that adds to her ridiculously impressive resume.
“Bullet” is 15-3-1 inside the Octagon, with 11 title fight wins, fourth most in UFC history, nine combined successful title defenses — tied for fourth most all-time — and so many additional records specific to her division and the women’s side of the sport, they are too numerous to list here. She is, hands down, one of the most accomplished and successful fighters, period, of the last decade, and have shown no signs of slowing down.
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The lone setback on her resume since shifting to the flyweight division following a hotly debated split decision loss to Nunes in their bantamweight title fight in Edmonton, Alberta came three years ago at UFC 285, when Alexa Grasso capitalized on an errant spinning back kick attempt from the champion, took her back, and eventually squeezed out a tap. The two faced off in a rematch at the inaugural Noche UFC in 2023, with the fight ending in a controversial draw before Shevchenko reclaimed the title with a dominant effort at Sphere the following September in the co-main event of UFC 306.
Since then, the globe-trotting superstar has posted decisive wins over Manon Fiorot and former two-time strawweight titleholder Zhang Weili to further cement her standing atop the 125-pound weight class and give rise to questions about a possible future return to bantamweight and her own chase of double-champ status.
Perhaps the most telling record of Shevchenko’s greatness is that she’s taken part in 13 consecutive championship fights, with 14 of her last 15 appearances having UFC gold on the line, with the lone exception being her flyweight debut more than eight years ago.
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The longest reigning champion in the UFC turned 37 on Saturday (HBD Champ!) has a new wave of exciting challengers queuing up for their chance to battle for gold, and given how dialled in she’s looked of late — and always, for that matter — you better believe Shevchenko will be ready for whichever of those contenders she’s paired off with next.
Mackenzie Dern
Shevchenko’s ascension to the top of the flyweight division felt preordained when she decamped from bantamweight. By comparison, Dern’s journey to the top of the strawweight ranks has been anything but straightforward, which makes her rise to the throne even more impressive.
One of the top Brazilian jiu jitsu competitors of her era and the lone female competitor to earn gold medals at the black belt level in each of the five highest-ranking IBJJF Gi Championships, the 32-year-old was heralded as a potential titleholder when she stepped off the mats and stepped into the cage for the first time in 2016. Five straight wins earned her a call to the Octagon, and victories in six of her first seven appearances strengthened those forecasts.
But a series of close, competitive fights that yielded just two wins in six starts left many wondering if Dern would be able to graduate from contender to champion. A quality win in the summer of 2024 got things moving in the right direction and a third-round submission of Amanda Ribas in the opening main event of 2025 not only gave her a measure of revenge against the bubbly Brazilian who bested her earlier in their UFC careers, but positioned Dern for a championship opportunity when two-time champ Zhang Weili opted to relinquish her title in order to move up and challenge Shevchenko for the flyweight belt.
Paired off with fellow grappler Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi, where she’d achieved one of the biggest wins over her grappling career a decade earlier, Dern came through down the stretch where it mattered most, winning the final two rounds on all three scorecards to lock up a unanimous decision win and claim the vacant strawweight title. It was another gritty, tenacious display from the grappling specialist who has move gutsy decision wins (six) than she does submission finishes (five) inside the Octagon.
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Where the reigns of Harrison and Shevchenko felt like destiny and each woman navigated their way to the top of their respective weight classes without many impediments or setbacks, Dern has battled every step of the way to get where she is now, learning hard lessons in defeat while figuring out who she is as a fighter and continuing to chase down her dreams.