Top Five UFC Female Fighters of 2025

5: Natalia Silva

The only fighter on our list who didn’t fight for a title this year, Silva (19-5-1) took a significant step towards her end goal of becoming flyweight champion by beating former 125-pound queen Alexa Grasso in May.

The Brazilian striker outgunned Grasso in their encounter at UFC 315 to stretch her remarkable win streak to 13. If she’s able to knock off a third former titleholder in a row in Rose Namajunas in the first event of 2026 in late January, she’ll undeniably be next for a shot at the belt.

4: Zhang Weili

After cleaning out the strawweight division with a statement win over the previously unbeaten Tatiana Suarez in February, Zhang (26-4) relinquished the 115-pound title and set her sights on Valentina Shevchenko’s flyweight crown.

With a win over the legendary Shevchenko, “Magnum” would become just the second female fighter in history to win a belt in two different weight classes after the consensus greatest of all time, Amanda Nunes, who held the bantamweight and featherweight titles.

The 36-year-old got her shot at the iconic Madison Square Garden in November, and though she fell short, there was no shame in defeat. Still one of the best in the world, her dominant win over powerhouse wrestler Suarez earns her a place on our list, with the Chinese star set to return to her natural weight class and aim to get her strawweight strap back in 2026.

3: Kayla Harrison

A freak athlete and a tour de force, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Harrison (19-1) would add UFC gold to her two Olympic gold medals in judo, and that’s exactly what she did this year.

There was no love lost between her and bantamweight champion Juliana Pena, with the pair going back-and-forth with venomous fighting words in the build-up to their bout at UFC 316 in June.

When the Octagon door closed, it was the muscle-bound challenger who backed up her words with actions. Too strong and too skilled, Harrison forced “The Venezuelan Vixen” to tap via a Kimura in the second round to bolster her legacy as one of the most decorated women’s combat sports athletes in history.

2: Mackenzie Dern

Since the day she first stepped foot inside the Octagon against Ashley Yoder in March 2018, Dern (16-5) was considered a future UFC champion. The multi-time jiu-jitsu world champion fulfilled the prophecy this year, capturing the vacant strawweight title in October.

Dern started her golden 2025 campaign with a submission win over Amanda Ribas in their main event showdown in January, a particularly sweet victory for the 32-year-old, as it was Ribas who had ended her undefeated streak in 2019.

Crucially, it also earned her a crack at the 115-pound title vacated by Weili. Her opponent? Another familiar foe in Virna Jandiroba. “Carcara” had broken Dern’s nose in their first fight in 2020, however, the durable Dern toughed it out to earn a decision win.

The rematch, this time for the gold, was set for UFC 321, and after breaking the internet at the weigh-ins, Dern outpointed Jandiroba once again to realise her destiny.

1: Valentina Shevchenko

Topping our list for the second successive year, Shevchenko (26-4-1) cemented her status as the pound-for-pound queen in 2025. “Bullet” not once but twice proved a point, that she remains the benchmark when it comes to women’s mixed martial arts.

Given that she’s entered the twilight of her undoubted Hall of Fame career at 37 and that Manon Fiorot was riding a 12-fight win streak, Shevchenko entered her flyweight title defence against the French phenom at UFC 315 in May as the underdog, a rarity for the greatest 125-pounder of all time.

The Kyrgyzstan ace went on to slay “The Beast”, outclassing her vaunted opponent over five rounds to hand the 35-year-old her first loss inside the Octagon. Having started her second reign as flyweight champion in style, it was finally time for Shevchenko to square off against Zhang in a superfight.

The blockbuster battle at UFC 322 in November looked anything but a clash between the two best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world as marginal favourite Shevchenko delivered a masterful 25-minute display of dominance to solidify her standing at the very top of the mountain.