Issue 169

August 2018

The leading female MMA fighters

JULIA "THE JEWEL" BUDD

The inaugural Bellator featherweight champion Julia “The Jewel” Budd was undefeated since 2012 and a winner of seven straight contests, putting herself in pole position when the promotion announced their first 145lbs title contest at Bellator 174. She saw off former Strikeforce champion, Marloes Coenen in the 4th and earned a split decision over Arlene Blencowe to top off a flawless year.

ANGELA LEE

“Unstoppable” Angela Lee lived up to the moniker by pushing her unbeaten record to 8-0 in 2017, courtesy of two successful defences of her ONE Championship atomweight world title. She picked up her first victory from strikes when she punished Jenny Huang in Bangkok last March and followed that with an impressive submission win against the unbeaten Istela Nunes. With huge appeal in Asia due to her Singaporean heritage, the Hawaii-native is a superstar in the East.

LLIMA-LEI MACFARLANE

En route to becoming the first ever Bellator women’s flyweight champion, Ilima-Lei Macfarlane kept her slate clean, entering 2017 at 5-0 as a professional. Her defeat of Jessica Middleton punched her ticket to a title fight where she met a familiar foe in the shape of Emily Ducote whom she submitted. At 7-0 in MMA, she also diversfied by winning the EBI women’s flyweight title under Eddie Bravo’s combat jiu jitsu ruleset.

CRIS CYBORG

Cris Cyborg let her fighting do the talking in 2017. Germaine de Randamie vacated the featherweight belt, refusing to face the Brazilian, but Tonya Evinger stepped up to the plate. Cyborg dispatched Evinger with a barrage of shots in the third round and followed this with a five-round destruction of Holly Holm,

ROSE NAMAJUNAS

An impressive victory over Michelle Waterson in April primed “Thug” Rose Namajunas for a shot at the seemingly invincible Polish champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in November. Namajunas believed she could pull off the upset and an emotional build-up led to a final, emphatic crescendo when she needed just three minutes to TKO the 14-0 champion, to end the year as world champion, despite starting it some distance off.