Ronda and Cyborg. Cyborg and Ronda. It’s the 2014 equivalent of Anderson Silva vs. Georges St-Pierre, the superfight du jour, the one which may or not ever happened.
And while some might get sick of discussing it, the potential fight isn’t the subject of chatter without reason.
Ronda Rousey and Cris “Cyborg” Justino remain the top two women’s pound-for-pound fighters in the current SB Nation pound-for-pound poll, garnering all but one of the top-two ballots.
Rousey, the UFC women’s bantamweight champion, remains the obvious No. 1 pick to most in the wake of her 16-second demolition of Alexis Davis at UFC 175. That put her at 10-0 in her pro career, with all of her wins via finish, and 6-0 against women who received votes in this month’s poll. That was enough to earn her 59 points, on five first-place ballots and one second.
Justino, meanwhile, is 2-0 since returning from a 2012 suspension, winning the inaugural Invicta featherweight title in the process. The San Diego-based fighter is not, as of now, scheduled to fight on Invicta’s Sept. 6 return show, but has vowed to make her bantamweight debut on the company’s December offering. Justino took four second-place votes, a first, and a third, for 55 points.
There’s also little doubt who is considered the next in line, as undefeated Cat Zingano took third place with 48 points. Or for the best fighter outside the UFC/Invicta orbit: The American Top Team’s Jessica Aguilar claimed fourth.
Beyond that, there’s agreement that the next four fighters are Top-10 worthy, as, in order, Sarah Kaufman, Barb Honchak, Alexis Davis, and Miesha Tate appear on all six ballots.
(Scoring: Fighters are given 10 points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second, etc., down to one point for 10th place. The results are then tallied up and presented here. Official SB Nation rankings policy: Fighters under commission suspension are ineligible to be ranked during the duration of their suspension or if they have licensing issues. This does not affect any fighters who would generally be considered for the women’s pound-for-pound list at the moment).
1. Ronda Rousey (10-0, 59 points): What’s left which hasn’t already been said about the champ? Nine first-round finishes in 10 professional fights say it all.
2. Cristiane Justino (12-1, 1 NC, 55 points): Justino plans on making her 135-pound debut in December. If all goes well – which is a huge if – we could see Rousey vs. Cyborg in 2015.
3. Cat Zingano (8-0, 48 points): After a year on the sidelines, the Alpha Cat makes her much-anticipated return at UFC 178 against Amanda Nunes.
4. Jessica Aguilar (18-4, 31 points): Aguilar is the first WSOF strawweight champion, and also the holder of the mythical title of best women’s fighter outside the UFC and Invicta.
5. Sarah Kaufman (17-2 1 NC, 29 points): The former bantamweight champ is 5-1 over the past three years, with her only loss in that span coming to Rousey.
6. Barb Honchak (9-2, 26 points): Invicta’s flyweight champ has looked all but untouchable at 125 pounds against both Vanessa Porto and Leslie Smith.
7. Alexis Davis (16-6, 24 points): Back to the drawing board for Davis after a brutal 16-second knockout loss to Rousey.
8. Miesha Tate (14-5, 21 points): No next fight set for the former Strikeforce champ, who rebounded from her UFC 168 loss to Rousey by defeating Liz Carmouche.
9. Sara McMann (7-1, 13 points): McMann gets right back into things following her loss to Rousey in February, as she squares off with Invicta bantamweight champ Lauren Murphy in the latter’s UFC debut next month.
10. Carla Esparza (9-2, 8 points): The odds-on favorite going into The Ultimate Fighter 20, as “The Cookie Monster” brings her Invicta strawweight title belt into the house with her.
Votes for others: Jessica Eye 6, Marloes Coenen 5, Lauren Murphy 4, Liz Carmouche 2.