Sherdog.com's WMMA Pound-for-Pound Top 10

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Women’s mixed martial arts is evolving and expanding by the day, yet few of the sport’s talented females receive even a fraction of the recognition bestowed upon 135-pound queen Ronda Rousey.

This top 10 list seeks to highlight top female fighters across all weight classes, not simply the Ultimate Fighting Championship-recognized strawweight and bantamweight divisions. Voted upon by Sherdog staff members and contributors, these rankings take into account the quality of a fighter’s record, her ability to dominate or finish opponents and, where applicable, head-to-head results. Without further ado, we present the inaugural Sherdog.com WMMA pound-for-pound rankings.

Related: Sherdog Divisional Rankings

1. Ronda Rousey (11-0)

What superlatives remain to heap upon Rousey? At 28 years old and with just 11 professional bouts on her ledger, the former Olympic judoka has decimated the women’s bantamweight division en route to becoming MMA’s lone female superstar. Even before her 14-second blowout of Cat Zingano at UFC 184, comparisons were being made between Rousey and Mike Tyson due to the brief and lopsided nature of her title defenses. Unlike Tyson in him prime, however, there are no bigger names or belts for Rousey to chase. With all viable contenders exhausted at the moment, the focus has returned to an oft-discussed super-fight between Rousey and longtime 145-pound queen Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino. For now, Rousey will take a break from the cage in order to star in an as-yet-unannounced film.

2. Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Justino (13-1, 1 NC)

Since bursting into the MMA consciousness in 2008, the woman known as “Cyborg” has lived up to her name by terminating 10 straight opponents, nine via knockout. In fact, the only setback of Justino’s stateside career came in 2011, when the then-Strikeforce champion was suspended for one year after testing positive for anabolic steroids. The 29-year-old Brazilian returned in April 2013 and has since captured the Invicta Fighting Championships featherweight belt, which she defended on Feb. 27 by punching out Charmaine Tweet in 46 seconds. All eyes have turned to a potential bout between Justino and UFC star Ronda Rousey, though it remains unlikely that the hulking “Cyborg” will be capable of cutting to 135 pounds.

3. Jessica Aguilar (19-4)

While the UFC has snapped up much of the world’s top 115-pound talent to fill its newest division, the true queen of the weight class resides in rival organization World Series of Fighting. “Jag” captured the WSOF strawweight title in June by pummeling Emi Fujino across five rounds and then defended her belt against Kalindra Faria in a similarly lopsided decision. The American Top Team product’s résumé includes a pair of victories over former pound-for-pound queen Megumi Fujii, as well as a 2011 win against current UFC ace Carla Esparza.

4. Cat Zingano (9-1)

Zingano’s grit and determination inside the cage helped her score come-from-behind wins against Miesha Tate and Amanda Nunes to become the UFC’s top bantamweight contender. The same qualities helped the Colorado native return to action following ACL surgery and the death of her husband in 2014. However, in her long-awaited title shot against Ronda Rousey at UFC 184, “Alpha Cat” had little chance to display her skills or resolve, as a 14-second armbar dashed Zingano’s championship hopes. The brief bout illustrated far less about Zingano -- who entered the bout unbeaten at 9-0 with eight finishes -- than it did the gap between Rousey and even the best of the rest at 135 pounds.

5. Miesha Tate (16-5)

Every great champion needs a foil, and Tate is the only woman in the bantamweight division who can legitimately call herself a rival to Ronda Rousey. Though winless in two outings against the UFC superstar, “Cupcake” has given Rousey her stiffest opposition to date; she remains the only one of Rousey’s 11 opponents to make it out of the first round. While a third title clash for Tate remains a hard sell, the 28-year-old has been busy making her case, earning decision wins against Sara McMann, Liz Carmouche and Rin Nakai in the past 12 months.

6. Barb Honchak (10-2)

Honchak has been nothing but dominant since winning the Invicta flyweight belt -- a little too dominant, perhaps. “The Little Warrior” drew criticism with her latest title defense, a November rout of Takayo Hashi which saw Honchak outwork the Japanese vet in the clinch for the better part of five rounds. Regardless of her tactics, there can be no denying the Pat Miletich student’s results: Honchak is currently riding a nine-fight winning streak and has not suffered a loss since September 2010.

7. Carla Esparza (10-2)

Pegged as the woman to beat in the UFC’s 115-pound title tournament, Esparza lived up to her top seeding by running the table on Season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The Californian notched exhibition wins against Jessica Penne, Tecia Torres and Angela Hill before submitting Rose Namajunas in December to become the inaugural UFC strawweight champ. Esparza’s wrestling has helped her conquer the division, and the “Cookie Monster” will likely look to employ those skills again in her first title defense when she meets Polish striker Joanna Jedrzejczyk on March 14.

8. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (8-0)

With only two Octagon appearances under her belt, Jedrzejczyk has already propelled herself into title contention. The Polish muay Thai convert upset Claudia Gadelha in December, earning a split decision by outworking the highly regarded Brazilian prospect on the feet. Jedrzejczyk will attempt to keep her perfect record intact when she challenges freshly crowned champ Carla Esparza for the UFC strawweight belt on March 14.

9. Claudia Gadelha (12-1)

Weight issues prevented Gadelha from competing on Season 20 of “The Ultimate Fighter,” but the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt from Nova Uniao never figured to be far removed from contention for the UFC strawweight title. However, the 26-year-old Brazilian was derailed in December, dropping a split decision to Joanna Jedrzejczyk in what proved to be a No. 1 contender bout. “Claudinha” will attempt to rebound from her first career setback on April 11, when she will meet durable Irish vet Aisling Daly in Poland.

10. Herica Tiburcio (9-2)

The youngest and lightest fighter to join the pound-for-pound list, pint-sized powerhouse Tiburcio made a name for herself in December by dethroning Invicta 105-pound champ Michelle Waterson. In a shocking upset, Tiburcio forced the “Karate Hottie” to tap to a third-round guillotine choke and claimed the atomweight title at just 21 years old. The Brazilian will risk her belt for the first time on July 10 against former Deep Jewels champ Ayaka Hamasaki.