UFC Women Fighters: Here are the highest paid female athletes of all time  

The UFC has been around since 1993 but women's MMA only made its foray into the organization 20 years later at UFC 159. This year will mark 10 years since Ronda Rousey defended her title against Liz Carmouche in the first women's MMA fight in the organization's history.

Since the fight between Rousey and Carmouche, women's MMA has evolved to a whole new level. The promotion's octagon has seen some of the most dangerous women in combat sports fight, including the likes of Joanna Jędrzejczyk, Valentina Shevchenko, Amanda Nunes and Cris Cyborg, to name a few.

Not only that, but all the fighters mentioned above are considered superstars in their own right with the ability to rake in massive PPV numbers. These women are also some of the best pound-for-pound fighters to ever fight in the octagon.

Keeping the above points in mind, we will take a look at some of the highest paid female athletes in the premier MMA promotion's history.

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#5. Holly Holm - Career earnings: $2.3 million

Holly Holm rose to fame after her high-profile knockout of former bantamweight queen Ronda Rousey. 'The Preacher's Daughter' and 'Rowdy' met at UFC 193, where she secured a brutal second-round head-kick KO over Rousey.

The victory was so significant that her home state declared the month of November as 'Holly Holm month'. She didn't end up retaining the bantamweight title and has only had moderate success since.

Despite a lackluster second half of her career, Holm is still amongst the highest-paid female MMA fighters in the promotion. She reportedly earned $2.3 million over the course of her career.

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#4. Valentina Shevchenko - Career earnings: $2.7 million

Valentina Shevchenko is one of the greatest strikers to have ever graced the octagon. The Krygyzstani-Peruvian fighter was the reigning women's flyweight champion between 2018 and 2023, and only recently lost her title to Alexa Grasso at UFC 285.

Still, she remains one of the most dangerous women in the organization. She has only lost thrice in the premier MMA organization to two women: Twice to Amanda Nunes and recently to Alexa Grasso.

Shevchenko built quite a reputation for herself and was part of some of the biggest pay-per-views in the company's history like UFC 231 and UFC 261. Her reported career earnings, according to Surprise Sports is $2.7 million.

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#3. Joanna Jędrzejczyk - Career earnings: $3.29 million

Joanna Jędrzejczyk is one of the deadliest strikers to ever grace the octagon. With just two wins in the promotion, she was booked against then-strawweight champion Carla Esparza for the strawweight title. She put on a striking clinic against the two-time strawweight champion and finished her in the second round to win the title, which she defended five times.

Though she faced adversity towards the latter half of her promotional career, she remains one of the most influential fighters in women's MMA. She has been part of some of the biggest pay-per-view events in the promotion's history, including UFC 205 and UFC 248. According to theufcnews.com, Jędrzejczyk earned an estimated $3.29 million across her professional career.

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#2. Ronda Rousey - Career earnings: $4 million

Ronda Rousey is a pioneer in women's mixed martial arts, having popularized and normalized the idea of women fighting inside the octagon. At one point, Rousey seemed unstoppable, finishing 11 of her 12 opponents in the first round. She only fought to a decision once in her career when she faced Meisha Tate at UFC 168.

In hindsight, Rousey did the smart thing by retiring from MMA as it was clear that her career was on the downslide. She never recovered from the brutal KO loss to Holly Holm, which was evident in her comeback where she was finished by Amanda Nunes in the first round at UFC 207.

'Rowdy' made a relatively smooth transition to, and found success at, WWE, where she continues to rake in major earnings. However, her earnings across her MMA career, according to Sport Bible, is $4 million.

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#1. Amanda Nunes - Career earnings: $8.36 million

Amanda Nunes is widely considered to be the greatest female fighter of all time. She is the organization's third double-champ, having won and defended titles at bantamweight and featherweight.

'The Lioness' has dispatched names like Ronda Rousey, Meisha Tate, Holly Holm, Cris Cyborg, Raquel Pennington and Megan Anderson, to name a few. She is the only woman in the promotion to have two wins over former flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.

Nunes continues to be dominant to this day, having only lost once since 2016, to Julianna Pena at UFC 269. She won her title back in a rematch with Pena, defeating the 'Venezuelan Vixen' via a dominant unanimous decision at UFC 277.

With multiple titles and defenses to her name, it's no wonder that she's the highest-paid women's athlete in the promotion, having earned $8.36 million in her career, according to MMA Salaries.