It was a big weekend for women’s MMA, with both Bellator 224 and UFC on ESPN+ 13 headlined by important women’s fights.
At Bellator 224 on Friday night, featherweight champion Julia Budd (13-2 MMA, 7-0 BMMA) earned her 11th consecutive victory with a first-round stoppage of Olga Rubin (6-1 MMA, 4-1 BMMA). Also on the card, former bantamweight standout Leslie Smith was victorious in a featherweight bout, defeating Sinead Kavanagh via majority decision.
The next night at UFC Sacramento, former UFC featherweight champ Germaine de Randamie (9-3 MMA, 6-1 UFC) finished Aspen Ladd (8-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) in just 16 seconds in a bantamweight matchup, knocking the latter from the ranks of the unbeaten. That’s her fifth straight victory since a loss to current featherweight and bantamweight titleholder Amanda Nunes.
Also on the card, Julianna Pena returned from a long absence and defeated former flyweight champion Nicco Montano; and Invicta strawweight champ Brianna Van Buren’s UFC debut was a success, as she earned a one-sided win over Livia Souza.
So what to make of all this? Well, in the case of Budd, she’s basically holding her spot at No. 3. With No. 1 Nunes and No. 2 Cris Cyborg both in the UFC (although the latter is currently contracted for just one more fight), that’s likely how things are going to stay for the foreseeable future.
De Randamie, meanwhile, jumps one spot to No. 3 in the bantamweight rankings, as she inches closer to a rematch with Nunes.
To see those updates and how the rest of the weekend’s competitors fared, check out the latest edition of our rankings.
