While most of the best talent is under the UFC banner and Bellator and WSOF have seemed scooped up the rest, there is still plenty of talent yet to be signed by the top promotions of the MMA food chain. These are not necessarily 'free agents' or even prospects, they are top 15-30 ranked fighters who are navigating the nebulous seas of regional and international fight promotion for whatever reason. Yet these are names you are most likely to see signed by top promotions in the near future more so than any of the other 'Outsider' posts; most are young, they are all prospects, and the promotions will have ample room and turnover for roster additions.
Unfortunately it's somewhat easy to dismiss Women's divisions in MMA, mainly because the depth of the divisions are really shallow and the sport hasn't taken off for the ladies in the same way it has for men. Sure you have Rousey and Cyborg (and the ghost of Gina Carano appearing once a year or so) and interest from the UFC in two divisions as well as Invicta's all-female roster, the reality is that the state of female MMA is best likened to MMA in general in 1996; a few big names, a lot of athletes with less than 10 fights on their record, and an unquantifiable standard for how 'good' talent can be measured.
On the other hand Bellator has revisited promoting a women's division (this time at 145) and DEEP has taken over the venerable JEWELS promotion to continue supporting Japanese female athletes. That's a decent foundation for the future, but the only thing missing are the athletes to fill those rosters. I personally enjoy women's MMA so I hope that all the ladies currently working hard to achieve MMA notoriety and the younger athletes just entering the gyms out there will grow the sport exponentially over the next few years.
Featherweights (145lb)
| RANK | NAME | RECORD | AGE | Last Promotion |
| 3 | Arlene Blencowe | 5-4-0 | 31 | Storm MMA (Australia) |
| 5 | Jessica Miele | 3-1-0 | ? | Gladiator Challenge |
| 7 | Latoya Walker | 4-0-0 | 35 | Sugar Creek Showdown |
| 9 | Jozette Cotton | 6-0-0 | 26 | Dynasty Combat |
| 11 | Faith Van Duin | 4-1-0 | 28 | Storm MMA (Australia) |
| 12 | Michelle Young | 1-0-0 | ? | Alaska FC |
| 13 | Fallon Fox | 5-1-0 | 39 | CCCW |
| 15 | Megan Anderson | 4-1-0 | ? | Roshambo MMA (Australia) |
Top Promotions
| Promotion | # Top 15 fighters | Champ |
| Bellator | 4 | vacant |
| Invicta | 3 | Cristiane Justino |
Bantamweights (135lb)
| RANK | NAME | RECORD | AGE | Last Promotion |
| 21 | Pannie Kianzad | 7-0-0 | 23 | Cage Warriors (UK) |
| 22 | Jessy Rose Clark | 5-1-0 | ? | Roshambo MMA (Australia) |
| 23 | Adnieszka Niedzwiedz | 7-0-0 | 19 | Fighter's Arena (Poland) |
| 24 | Colleen Scheider | 6-5-0 | 32 | Super Fight League (India) |
| 25 | Sarah D'Alelio | 8-6-0 | 34 | BAMMA (UK) |
Top Promotions
| Promotion | # Top 25 fighters | Champ |
| UFC | 18 | Ronda Rousey |
| Invicta | 1 | vacant |
Flyweights (125lb)
| RANK | NAME | RECORD | AGE | Last Promotion |
| 7 | Brenda Gonzales | 6-2-0 | 32 | Mosley Showdown |
| 8 | Juliana Werner | 8-4-0 | 33 | XFC (Brazil) |
| 9 | Silvana Gomez Juarez | 5-0-0 | ? | XFC (Brazil) |
| 10 | Kamila Porczyk | 2-0-0 | 37 | KSW (Poland) |
| 11 | Antonia Silvaneide da Silva | 4-1-0 | ? | XFC (Brazil) |
| 15 | Reina Cordoba | 7-0-0 | ? | Center Real Fights (Costa Rica) |
| 16 | Ana Maria | 5-5-0 | ? | Fatality Arena (Brazil) |
| 17 | Karine Gevorgyan | 2-0-0 | Octagon FS (Russia) | |
| 18 | Audrey Alvarez | 3-0-0 | 31 | Back Alley Promotions |
| 19 | Poliana Botelho | 3-1-0 | 26 | XFC (Brazil) |
| 20 | Manjit Kolekar | 6-0-0 | ? | Super Fight League (India) |
Top Promotions
| Promotion | # Top 20 fighters | Champ |
| Invicta | 8 | Barb Honchak |
| XFC | 4 | vacant |
Strawweights (115lb)
| RANK | NAME | RECORD | AGE | Last Promotion |
| 8 | Livia Renata Souza | 7-0-0 | 23 | Circuito Talent de MMA (Brazil) |
| 11 | Kalindra Faria | 15-5-1 | 28 | KSW (Poland) |
| 16 | Justine Kish | 4-0-0 | 26 | RFA |
| 18 | Aline Sattelmayer | 8-6-0 | 24 | Real Fight (Brazil) |
| 20 | Marilia Santos | 4-0-0 | ? | MMA Super Heroes (Brazil) |
| 22 | Viviane Pereira | 7-0-0 | ? | XFC (Brazil) |
| 26 | Emi Fujino | 15-8-0 | 34 | DEEP/WSOF |
| 27 | Ericka Almeida | 6-0-0 | 25 | Jungle Fight (Brazil) |
| 28 | Virna Jandiroba | 3-0-0 | ? | MMA Super Heroes (Brazil) |
| 29 | Sarah Schneider | 7-6-0 | 34 | Extreme Beatdown |
| 30 | Patricia Vidonic | 9-7-0 | 35 | Rogue Fights |
Top Promotions
| Promotion | # Top 30 fighters | Champ |
| UFC | 12 | Carla Esparza |
| Invicta | 4 | Katja Kankaanpaa |
| WSOF | 2 | Jessica Aguilar |
Atomweights (105lb)
| RANK | NAME | RECORD | AGE | Last Promotion |
| 2 | Ayaka Hamasaki | 11-1-0 | 32 | DEEP (Japan) |
| 4 | Celine Haga | 6-12-0 | 30 | Global KO |
| 5 | Cortney Casey | 3-1-0 | ? | PXC (Philippines) |
| 6 | Mei Yamaguchi | 13-8-1 | 32 | DEEP (Japan) |
| 7 | Mina Kurobe | 5-0-0 | 37 | DEEP (Japan) |
| 8 | Saori Ishioka | 13-8-0 | 27 | DEEP (Japan) |
| 10 | Naho Sugiyama | 10-4-0 | 37 | DEEP (Japan) |
| 11 | Satomi Takano | 6-5-0 | ? | DEEP (Japan) |
| 13 | Tomo Maesawa | 5-4-0 | ? | DEEP (Japan) |
| 14 | Cassie Rodish | 5-4-0 | 34 | RFA |
| 15 | Satoko Shinashi | 31-2-2 | 38 | DEEP (Japan) |
Top Promotions
| Promotion | # Top 15 fighters | Champ |
| DEEP | 8 | Satoko Shinashi |
| Invicta | 4 | Herica Tiburcio |
*All Rankings taken from Fight Matrix at time of writing. Promotions without a country listed next to it are considered US based.
