5 female UFC fighters who are BMFs
The UFC is an innovator in the world of mixed martial arts. While the promotion has abandoned its days of hosting tournaments, it has yielded to a different idea in recent years. Stockton legend Nate Diaz made his long-awaited return to the octagon back in 2019 and faced Anthony Pettis at UFC 241. Diaz earned a dominant win in what he claimed was his defense of the BMF championship: a symbolic title for the supposed 'Baddest Motherf**ker' in the UFC.
Impressed with Jorge Masvidal's five-second knockout win over Ben Askren, Diaz welcomed the challenge 'Gamebred' posed, and the two were scheduled to lock horns at UFC 244. To generate hype for the matchup, Dana White agreed to Diaz's demands and created a silver-plated BMF championship belt to be claimed by the bout's winner. Jorge Masvidal emerged as the victor by a third round TKO and became the UFC's first BMF champion.
While the first and only BMF title fight took place in 2019, former UFC strawweight champion and recent MMA retiree Joanna Jędrzejczyk expressed an interest in returning for a potential women's BMF title fight. While no such bout seems to be in the making, this list examines five female UFC fighters who are candidates for the BMFs.
#5. UFC strawweight contender - Joanna Jędrzejczyk
The WMMA fighter who first proposed the concept for a women's BMF title fight, Joanna Jędrzejczyk is a former strawweight champion. While the former kickboxer is now retired, she has expressed an interest in returning for a BMF title bout. At her peak, Jędrzejczyk was a relentless kickboxer who applied ceaseless pressure against every foe.
Her takedown defense was impregnable as she battered and bloodied her foes en route to recording the most UFC title defenses in the strawweight division while also owning the division's longest winning streak along with three Fight of the Night honors.
Two years ago today, one of the best fights in UFC history went down between Zhang Weili and Joanna Jedrzejczyk 👏 https://t.co/0LRTBT5DXY
In fact, Jędrzejczyk's merits as a fighter are so pronounced that only Amanda Nunes, the WMMA GOAT, equals the number of title fights she’s taken part in. The former strawweight champion is also remembered for her indomitable will and fearsome durability, dragging Zhang Weili to the fifth round of an action-packed bout while her head was inflated by one of the largest hematomas ever seen by UFC audiences.
In her heyday, Jędrzejczyk turned down no challengers, facing anyone and everyone while exhibiting psychotic confidence and needling her opponents with cold-blooded trash talk.