On Jan. 16, the world’s number-one ranked women’s featherweight Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino defends her title against Daria Ibragimova at Invicta FC 15. Justino had been preparing for a drop down to the bantamweight division. However, Ronda Rousey’s devastating knockout loss to Holly Holm has convinced her to continue her featherweight campaign.
Ibragimova is Russian fighter who holds a professional record of 9-1. She is currently ranked 10th in the Fight Matrix rankings at women’s featherweight. Despite these accolades, her opponents’ combined record is 19-25. During her six-plus year career, she has faced only one fighter who currently has more than three wins, Cindy Dandois, and Ibragimova lost via first-round submission. The Invicta FC 15 main event is expected to be another washout for “Cyborg.”
Justino has a virtual stranglehold on the division. In her last three fights, she has defeated the second, eighth and seventh ranked fighters at 145 pounds.
Against Ibragimova, “Cyborg” has a 71 to 20 advantage in ranking points. That is a 255 percent ranking advantage. Let’s compare that advantage to the other female fighters currently ranked number one. The following table shows a breakdown of how each number-one ranked female fighter stacks up, in terms of ranking points percent advantage, in a hypothetical matchup against the 10th ranked fighter in that division.
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