Female MMA is still in it's beginning stages.
But it has already pretty much overtaken female boxing as the number one female combat sport.
(Okay, I'm not counting womens pro wrestling).
Although there is a lot of division among fans on the sport, the Gina Carano vs Cristiane Santos bout at Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg got both fighters and the sport a lot of press.
Here are a few of the best known and most promising ladies in the sport.

Gina Joy Carano was born on April 16, 1982, in Dallas County, Texas.
Despite her recent well publicized loss to Cristiane Santos in Strikeforce's first Women's Lightweight (145-Pound) Championship fight, Gina is still referred to as "Face of Women's MMA."
Before getting into MMA, she played basketball, volleyball and softball. She even led the Trinity Christian High School in Las Vegas to a state title.
Gina started out in Muay Thai where she had a record of 12-1-1.
She appeared in the first ever sanctioned female MMA bout in Nevada against Leiticia Pestova.
Part of Gina's popularity is her good looks that have enabled her to branch out and draw in more fans for female MMA.
Besides fighting in the steel cage, Gina has appeared in "American Gladiators"as Crush, the Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 video game as Natasha Volkova, and she will be in the fight film Blood and Bone starring Michael Jai White.
Gina also appeared in the 2005 cult film "Ring Girls" along with fellow female MMA fighters LaTasha Marzolla, Ardra Hernandez, Lisa King and Christine Toledo.
Along with Lisa King, she appeared as a mentor in the 2007 Oxygen series "Fight Girls".
In 2009, Gina Carano was ranked number 16 in Maxim's Hot 100 list.
Her current MMA record is 7-1-0.

The woman that took it to Gina Carano, Cris "Cyborg" Santos was born on July 9, 1985 in Curitiba, Brazil.
Where Gina is a fighter and a media darling, Cris is a fighter pure and simple. If you watch Cris fight, you can figure out where she got the nickname "Cyborg".
Before getting into MMA, Cris was a national-level handball player in Brazil.
Cris trains at the Chute Boxe Academy with her husband, fellow MMA fighter Evangelista Santos. Her primary fighting styles are Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu.
Her MMA record is 8-1-0, her only loss being in her very first fight against Erica Paes.
As I mentioned above, Cris defeated Gina Carano for the Women's Lightweight Championship. She won the round by TKO at 4:59 of the 5:00 first round.
I doubt you'll see Cris branch out into other media like Gina, because like I said before, she is a fighter, pure and simple.

Born in Anchorage, Alaska, this female MMA fighter has a record of 4-1-0 ( I have seen 3-2-0 listed also) .
Emily is what you would call a "natural", entering her first fight without any formal training.
After that fight, Emily went to Nor Cal Fighting Alliance in Santa Rosa, California for training.
Her most recent fight was a loss to Erin Toughill at PFC 13: Validation on May 8th, 2009.

Erin just might be the natural successor to Gina Carano's "Face of Women's MMA." title.
She was born on June 13, 1977 in Chicago, Illinois.
Erin started out in Kickboxing at the age of 18, and moved from there into Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
But Erin has not only competed in MMA, but has also been a female boxer as well, with a record there of 8-2-1.
And like Gina Carano, Erin appeared in American Gladiators as "Steel".
Erin's current MMA record is 10-2-1.

This 5'4, 120 pound fighter is trained in Brazilian Ju Jitsu.
Jessica's record is 5-3-0 and she fights out of American Top Team in Flordia.

Lisa is only 5 feet tall, but she has a record of 12-5-0.
She and her boyfriend Eddy Ellis own and run a gym called United Training Center in Olympia, WA.
Lisa Ward won a Gold Medal in the 105.5-pound division at the FILA World Championships in Grappling in 2008, defeating Lisa Newton of Great Britain in the finals by submission.
Yes, unlike some of the other girls, Lisa is a wrestler turned mma fighter.