5 best women's bantamweight title fights in UFC history

#2. Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate – UFC 168

Miesha Tate pushed Ronda Rousey to the limit at UFC 168

The greatest rivalry in the history of the UFC women’s bantamweight division remains the bitter feud between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate.

The two women’s dislike for one another was well established following their bout in Strikeforce in 2012, a fight won by Rousey in the first round. The feud only became nastier after they coached against one another on the 18th season of The Ultimate Fighter.

Given how easily Rousey had dispatched ‘Cupcake’ in their first encounter, though, few fans expected their rematch at UFC 168 to be such a great fight.

Sure, Tate was on the defensive for the majority of the three rounds that the fight lasted, having to fend off a series of submission attempts from Rousey, as well as an aggressive striking game that backed her up at times. However, she never felt completely out of it until the fight ended.

Essentially, this was probably the first time we’d seen ‘Rowdy’ truly tested in an MMA fight. Near-submission from Liz Carmouche aside, she’d simply blown through every other opponent she’d faced with absolute ease.

Here, though, Tate not only escaped her deadly armbar on more than one occasion, but she also forced her into standing exchanges a couple of times, something that would prove to be her kryptonite later down the line. Of course, Tate never could find a way to unleash that kryptonite, though, and she ended up submitting to the famed Rousey armbar in the third round of this fight.

Was that enough for Rousey to want to bury the hatchet? Of course not. After the fight she shunned a handshake from Tate, ensuring that the rivalry would go on. All these years later, it hasn’t really been topped.

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#1. Amanda Nunes vs. Julianna Pena – UFC 269

Julianna Pena's win over Amanda Nunes was one of the biggest upsets in UFC history

In terms of sheer fight quality, the greatest women’s bantamweight title bout in UFC history has to be this past weekend’s clash between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena.

Not only did the fight end in the most dramatic way possible, with one of the most shocking upsets in UFC history, but it was also wildly exciting, featured back-and-forth action and saw Nunes come close to finishing Pena in the first round before succumbing in the second.

Nobody was really giving Pena a chance of winning the fight coming in. Nunes had not only ruled over the division since 2016, but ‘The Lioness’ was also widely recognized as the greatest female fighter in UFC history, holding victories over six current or former UFC champions.

Early on, it looked like the betting favorite would come out an easy winner. Nunes took the fight to Pena in the first round, sending her to the ground and then dominating her there, looking to lock up a rear-naked choke that she couldn’t quite finish.

However, in the second round, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ began to turn the tide. She did it in the most remarkable way possible, by wildly trading with Nunes, a renowned heavy hitter, and using cleaner, straighter punches to hurt the champion.

With the crowd on the edge of their seats, unable to believe what they were seeing, Pena continued to turn up the heat and then managed to trip the hurt Nunes to the ground before submitting her with a choke variant.

It was an incredible ending to a truly incredible fight that featured non-stop action from start to finish.

Essentially, while all of the afore-mentioned title bouts were great, this one featured the best parts of all of them, making it the standout fight in the history of the UFC women’s bantamweight division.