Grading every women's flyweight champion in UFC history

Women’s divisions in the UFC have come a long way and have produced some notable female fighters who have contributed to the growth of women’s MMA. Women’s bantamweight and strawweight divisions have been around for a while and understandably grab media attention. However, women’s flyweight has been steadily getting into the must-watch list of fans.

Women's flyweight is the UFC's youngest division and only three women have held the divisional title since its inception. Although the sample size is small, there are some interesting things to discuss about the competitive achievements of all three champions. In this article, we will try to assess the women's flyweight champions based on the quality of their title reigns.

1. Nicco Montano

Most MMA fans forget Nicco Montano was the inaugural UFC women's flyweight champion. Montano's title reign lasted 280 days and she had to relinquish the title without defending it. Unfortunately, winning the UFC title fight is the only highlight of her MMA career which injuries, botched weight cuts, and last-minute fight cancellations have marred.

But winning the UFC title marks the absolute pinnacle of competitive achievements in MMA. Irrespective of all the factors, it is still a rare and unique achievement to have the belt wrapped around one’s waist. So even with all the potential downsides, Montano should be respected as a former UFC champion. But objectively looking at her title reign and MMA career, it is hard to deny that she could have done better.

For that, we grade Montano C- as the UFC women’s flyweight champion.