Female MMA Fighters

Female MMA is still in it's beginning stages.
But it has already pretty much overtaken female boxing as the number one female combat sport.
(Okay, I'm not counting womens pro wrestling).
Although there is a lot of division among fans on the sport, the Gina Carano vs Cristiane Santos bout at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg got both fighters and the sport a lot of press.
Here are a few of the best known and most promising ladies in the sport.

Gina Carano is in a category all her own.
I think it's called "Hot beats everything else".
She hasn't had a fight since Cris "Cyborg" Santos destroyed her at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg back on August 15, 2009.
But she is still the most popular female mma fighter on this list.
Gina was born on April 16th, 1982, in Dallas County, Texas.
The woman that was once the "Face of Women's MMA." played basketball, volleyball and softball before getting into MMA. She even led the Trinity Christian High School in Las Vegas to a state title.
Gina started out in Muay Thai where she had a record of 12-1-1.
She appeared in the first ever sanctioned female MMA bout in Nevada against Leiticia Pestova.
Part of Gina's popularity is her good looks that have enabled her to branch out and draw in more fans for female MMA.
Besides fighting in the steel cage, Gina has appeared in "American Gladiators"as Crush, the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 video game as Natasha Volkova, and she was in the fight film Blood and Bone starring Michael Jai White.
Gina also appeared in the 2005 cult film "Ring Girls" along with fellow female MMA fighters LaTasha Marzolla, Ardra Hernandez, Lisa King and Christine Toledo.
Along with Lisa King, she appeared as a mentor in the 2007 Oxygen series "Fight Girls".
In 2009, Gina Carano was ranked number 16 in Maxim's Hot 100 list.
Her current MMA record is 7-1-0.
There were rumors that she would be returning to the steel cage in 2011, but that didnt pan out.
It looks like her full concentration is on her role in Steven Soderbergh's Haywire with Antonio Banderas, Michael Douglas, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum and Michael Fassbender.

Again in the category of "Hot beats everything else", we have Miesha "Takedown" Tate.
Now that's not to saw Miesha isn't talented...not at all.
She has a MMA record of 12-2-0 that shows she is no slouch.
This five foot six 134 pound female MMA fighter was born on August 18th, 1986, in Tacoma, Washington.
She is trained in Wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu and her last fight was a win over Marloes Coenen via submission (Arm-Triangle Choke) at Strikeforce / M-1 Global - Fedor vs. Henderson on July 30th, 2011 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.

Marloes "Rumina" Coenen was born on March 31st, 1981 in Olst, Netherlands.
This one one of the ladies that people thought could possibly put an end to Cristiane Santos' reign of terror.
Didn't happen.
Cris beat her, but Marloes turned around and beat Liz Carmouche and Sarah Kaufman back to back.
But she was stopped by Miesha Tate at the Strikeforce event I mentioned above.
Her current MMA record is 19-5-0.

Ronda "Rowdy" Rousey was born on February 1st, 1987 in Riverside County, California.
Before entering MMA, Ronda was an experienced Judoka (Judo practitioner).
She was the youngest Judo player at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, she won a gold medal at the 2004 World Junior Judo Championships, in 2006 she won a gold medal at the Birmingham World Cup in Great Britain and then the bronze medal at the Junior World Championships.
Her current MMA record is 4-0-0 with all four wins via submission.
Ronda's last fight was a win over Julia Budd via submission (arm bar) at Strikeforce - Challengers 20 on November 18, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
By the way...so far none of Ronda's fights have gone past :49 seconds.

And here we go back to "Hot beats everything else".
Erin Toughill is a great female martial artist to be sure.
She's got a 10-3-1 MMA record.
The problem is that Erin waited almost two years between fights, then lost to Ashley Sanchez via Unanimous Decision at FCF - Freestyle Cage Fighting 46 on April 9th, 2011 in Shawnee, Oklahoma.
Yet she is still the fifth most popular female fighter.

Amanda "Lioness of the Ring" Nunes was born on May 30th, 1988 in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Her MMA record is 6-2-0 with her last fight being a loss to Alexis Davis via TKO (Punches) at Strikeforce - Barnett vs. Kharitonov on September 10th, 2011 at the U.S. Bank Arena in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Again the "Hot beats everything else" factor figures in because at times I think she resembles Rosario Dawson.
But even with that this lady has the cred.
She started out boxing at the age of sixteen and then began training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

This five foot one, 145 pound powerhouse was October 22nd, 1986 in Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan.
She started training in judo at the age of three.
Yes three.
Before going full into MMA, Rin was a female grappler with a 2-2-0 record.
In MMA, her current record is 10-0-1 with her last fight being a Draw with Danielle West at Pancrase - Impressive Tour 9 on September 4, 2011in at Differ Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Sarah Kaufman was born on September 20, 1985 in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.
She started out in dance, went to aerobics kickboxing and finally wound up in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Sarah's current MMA record is 14-1-0 with her last bout being a win over Liz Carmouche via Unanimous Decision at Strikeforce - Challengers 17 on July 22nd, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

And here is a prime example of "Hot beats everything else".
Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, the most dominant force in female MMA today comes in at number nine.
This lady that eats, sleeps and destroys should be number one without a doubt, but "pretty" comes in higher.
I must admit to a certain sick satisfaction when Cris goes in and destroys a "wonder girl" in just a few minutes.
Or seconds.
Her MMA record is 11-1-0 with her last match being a win over Hiroko Yamanaka via TKO (Punches) in 16 seconds in the first round.
Hiroko was 12-1-0 going in.

On January 6, 2012, Cris tested positive for stanozolol, which is an anabolic steroid.
As a result of the banned substance, the Hiroko Yamanaka fight's result has been changed to a no contest and Cris had her license suspended for one year and was fined $2,500.
She was also stripped of the Strikeforce Women's Featherweight Championship.

Cindy "Battlecat" Dandois was born on October 26th, 19?? in Borgerhout, Antwerpen, Belgium.
She's five foot seven, 145 pounds and her MMA record is 5-1-0.
Her last fight was a win over Jorina Baars via TKO (Punches) at SD - Staredown on March 19th, 2011 at the Expo Hall in her hometown.
What makes this fight unusual is that she won this fight when she was two months pregnant!
Don't try this at home.
Since then Cindy has given birth to a healthy baby daughter that she has nicknamed "Battlekitten".