5 longest UFC women's title reigns

Since being introduced in 2012, the UFC women’s divisions have drastically improved in depth and overall quality.

Before 2012, the idea of women competing in the promotion seemed very unlikely. Dana White was against it for years, but later changed his mind when Ronda Rousey proved it could be profitable. In the past decade, the promotion has added more female weight classes. They have even had women’s bouts serve as the main event for some of their milestone events.

The addition of more female divisions allowed female fighters an opportunity to find their ideal weight-division. Fighters like Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko have been great in one division and utterly dominant in another. Some recent title reigns have set a high standard for women’s MMA. This list will look at the five longest UFC women’s title reigns.

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#5. Former UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk (2015 – 2017)

Joanna Jedrzejczyk with her women's flyweight championship

Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s UFC career has made her an all-time great in the sport. She defeated Carla Esparza on March 14th, 2015 to become the new strawweight champion. The division was a new addition to the promotion following TUF season 20 and was quickly established with her title reign. She had the title for a total of 966 days.

The Pole's title reign was historic for the division as she had five title defenses. This was significant as she was one title defense shy of matching Rousey for most women’s title defenses. She was dominant during her reign as four of her defenses saw her earn unanimous decision wins by a wide margin.

Jedrzejczyk’s title reign ended on November 4th, 2017 after a first-round TKO loss to Rose Namajunas. She has since had three title shots but hasn’t been able to add another title to her Hall of Fame worthy resume.

#4. Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (2012 - 2015)

Regardless of how her career ended, Ronda Rousey is one of the most important female fighters in UFC history. She was part of the first women’s main event in the promotion’s history and grew their fanbase. Her title reign began when the promotion promoted her as champion following their acquisition of Strikeforce in 2012. The reign lasted 1074 days and was a big part of the promotion investing in women’s MMA.

‘Rowdy’ took the promotion by storm and looked unbeatable during her reign. She retained her title six times against the top bantamweights in the promotion. Some of her wins included former champion Miesha Tate, former Olympian Sara McMann, and Cat Zingano. All her title defenses ended with a finish, and the armbar became her signature.

Rousey’s title reign ended in 2015 when Holly Holm knocked her out. The fight headlined the promotion’s first stadium event in Australia and was a turning point for the women’s bantamweight division.

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#3. UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (2018 – Present)

Valentina Shevchenko has had a historic UFC title reign in her own right. She beat Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant women’s flyweight championship in 2018 and is still going strong as champion. The reign has lasted over 1170 days and saw her make six successful title defenses.

‘Bullet’ has continued to separate herself from the rest of the contenders at flyweight. Her fights have become increasingly one-sided and have resulted in her moving to the top spot on the promotion’s female pound-for-pound rankings. She is currently riding an eight-fight winning streak and hasn’t lost since 2017 when she lost a split decision to Amanda Nunes.

Shevchenko has been an entertaining fighter to watch even though she’s been heavily favored in her fights. She has won four out of her six title defenses by either knockout or TKO. It’ll be interesting to see if ‘Bullet’ sets a new record or if she attempts another bantamweight title run.

#2. UFC featherweight champion Amanda Nunes (2018 – Present)

Since her historic win at UFC 232, Amanda Nunes has been regarded as one of the greatest female fighters of all time. She has earned that reputation with her phenomenal performances inside the octagon, especially as women’s featherweight champion. Nunes’ current reign has lasted 1150 days and is continuing.

‘Lioness’ took advantage of an opportunity when she challenged Cris Cyborg in 2019. She wasn’t fazed by the aura of invincibility that Cyborg had and turned the fight into a slugfest. It was a successful strategy as she overwhelmed Cyborg with a flurry of haymakers and made history. She became the promotion’s first female two-division champion with the title win.

Nunes has since made two title defenses with minimal. First, she defeated Felicia Spencer by unanimous decision, with the judges scoring the bout 50-44, 50-44, and 50-45. She retained her title a second time when she submitted Megan Anderson with a triangle armbar in the first round.

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#1. Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes (2016 – 2021)

UFC 200: Miesha Tate vs. Amanda Nunes

Despite not setting a record for title defenses, Nunes’ women’s bantamweight title reign is still the most impressive in UFC history. She submitted Miesha Tate with a rear-naked choke to become champion in 2016 and held the title until 2021.

During her five year reign, ‘Lioness’ retained the title five times and held it for a total of 1981 days. What made the title reign so impressive is that four of the defenses came against former or current champions. She defeated former bantamweight champions Ronda Rousey and Holly Holm, former featherweight champion Germaine de Randamie, and current flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Unfortunately for Nunes, her title loss was just as significant as her reign. She lost the title to Julianna Pena in perhaps the biggest upset in the promotion’s history. ‘Lioness’ was heavily favored, but ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ managed to exhaust the champion and submitted her in the second round at UFC 269.