The best UFC women's champion of all time, and the worst

Best: Amanda Nunes

One night in 2015, Ronda Rousey hit a wall in the form of Holly Holm.

Rousey had a villainous presentation in the buildup, but Holm played the perfect antithesis and knocked Rousey out in the second round at UFC 193. A year later, the UFC made sure to fast-track the now-human Rousey back to immortality.

Not everybody faces a titan on their first defense, but Amanda Nunes knew how to slay giants.

After submitting Miesha Tate to win the title, Nunes spoiled Rousey's comeback dominantly. It took only 27 significant strikes and 48 seconds for Nunes to send the face of women's MMA out of the UFC. But annihilating Rousey was only the tip of the iceberg.

Nunes defended the title twice against Valentina Shevchenko and Raquel Pennington. She then went up to featherweight and spoiled another legend's party. Nunes' 51-second dissimilation of Cris Cyborg made her one of four double-champs in UFC history, the only woman in the elite quartet.

Nunes took care of anybody who was put in front of her. She followed her win against Cyborg with two more defenses for each belt. Nunes dropped her bantamweight strap to Julianna Peña at UFC 296 in 2021-- a mistake that she immediately corrected in their rematch the following year. With featherweight lacking worthy contenders, Nunes defended the bantamweight belt against Irene Aldana at UFC 289 and retired on top of both divisions.

When somebody is hailed the GOAT in women's MMA, there should be no question whether or not they were the best female champion in the UFC.