MMA
UFC Women’s Featherweight Champions
This article ranks and analyses the best UFC women's featherweight champions ever using the SportsBoom MetaScale.
Amanda Nunes and Cris Cyborg//Getty Images
The UFC women’s featherweight division only had a seven-year lifespan, being introduced in 2017 and then dissolved in 2024 following Amanda Nunes’ retirement.
This weight class was introduced to simply accommodate the elite fighters in the women's bantamweight division who struggled to make the 135-pounds weight limit.
With only three fights in its history, we have provided a short breakdown into the best UFC women's featherweight champions of all time.
Methodology
The rankings and historical details of each champion are derived from (UFC official lineage) and (Sportskeeda rankings). The methodology considers the following criteria:
Win/Loss Record: Total number of wins versus losses across each fighter's career.
Title Defenses: Number of successful title defenses in the UFC Women's Featherweight division.
Reign Duration: Length of time each fighter held the title.
Fight Outcomes: Key wins and losses that impacted their reign and legacy.
Next Fight: Information on upcoming bouts for current and ranked fighters.
Critical Consensus: Ranking UFC Women’s Featherweight Champions
The Critical Consensus Table includes information from the UFC official website as well as Sportskeeda.
Critical Consensus Table
| Fighter | Source 1 (UFC) | Source 2 (Sportskeeda) |
| Amanda Nunes | 22-5 (Current Champion) | 22-5 (Defeated Megan Anderson) |
| Cris Cyborg | 2017-2018 | 2017-2018 |
| Germaine de Randamie | 2017 (Stripped) | 2017 (Stripped due to inactivity) |
SportsBoom MetaScale: Ranking UFC Women’s Featherweight Champions
The SportsBoom MetaScale combines a fighter's record, title defences and title reign duration.
SportsBoom MetaScale
| Fighter | Record | Title Defences | Reign Duration | Score |
| Amanda Nunes | 22-5 | 3 | 2018-Present | 95 |
| Cris Cyborg | 21-2 | 3 | 2017-2018 | 90 |
| Germaine de Randamie | 9-3 | 0 | 2017 | 85 |
UFC Women’s Featherweight Champions: Fighter Profiles
Here is a list of the UFC women’s featherweight champions’ fighter profiles. This section will provide background information along with their biggest wins and legacy they've created.
1. Amanda Nunes
The most dominant, and last, UFC women's featherweight champion in history is Amanda Nunes.
What was supposed to be a very competitive bout at UFC 232, Nunes knocked Cris Cyborg out inside a minute of the first round to become the UFC women’s featherweight champion. Nunes then defended her featherweight strap twice, claiming a decision win in a beatdown against Felicia Spencer, and then securing a very technical submission (reverse triangle armbar) over Megan Anderson. This would end up being Nunes’ final bout at featherweight.
Following the Brazilian's retirement in 2023, Dana White and the UFC decided to dissolve the weight class due to a lack of quality fighters in the division.
2. Cris Cyborg
Cris Cyborg of Brazil punches Felicia Spencer//Getty Images
Cris Cyborg became the second champion after defeating Tonya Evinger at UFC 214. Cyborg's first title defence came against Holly Holm at UFC 219. Just a few months later, she added another title defence to her name when she knocked out Yana Kunitskaya in the first round at UFC 222.
Known for her ferocity and explosive striking, Cyborg became synonymous with dominance in the UFC women’s featherweight division before leaving for Bellator in 2020.
3. Germaine de Randamie
Germaine de Randamie celebrates her victory over Holly Holm//Getty Images
The first female featherweight champ was crowned in 2017 when Germaine de Randamie defeated Holly Holm at UFC 208. However, her title reign would only last 128 days because she was stripped due to inactivity, this is one of the shortest championship reigns in UFC history.
Despite her historic win, de Randamie’s reign was marred by controversy. She was stripped of the title due to inactivity after refusing to face Cris Cyborg, citing concerns regarding Cyborg’s past doping violations.
SportsBoom Suggests
As of early 2025, there is no such thing as the female featherweight division due to the lack of quality fighters available for this weight class. In order for the UFC to reintroduce it, there will need to be several top fighters coming through whose natural weight class is 145-pounds.
There is potential for the likes of Norma Dumont and Macy Chiasson to force the UFC to reopen the featherweight division; both fighters are top ranked contenders in the bantamweight division, and both have struggles making weight.
Both fighters have previously fought at catch-weight bouts at 140-pounds or higher in the last few years.
If Durmont and/or Chiasson are able to dominate bantamweight over the next couple of years then perhaps Dana White could reform the 145-pounds women’s weight class and have these two battle it out to become the fourth champion in the division's history.
Jake Staniland is a sports writer who excels in covering a wide range of sports: football, combat sports and the NFL - All three subjects are his lifelong passions.
Jake is a boyhood Sheffield United fan, which is often a curse that he thanks his family for. His favourite Blades player ever is Billy Sharp