Best UFC Women’s Strawweights of All Time: Top 9 115-Pound Greats Ranked

Women’s strawweight (115 lbs) is where technique meets pace: high-volume striking, constant scrambles, and title fights that rarely feel easy.

For this ranking, the separators are simple: championship accomplishments (wins/defenses), quality of opponents, how dominant the peak looked, and what each fighter did to shape the division.

Best UFC Women’s Strawweights of All Time: Top 9 Ranked

1) Joanna Jędrzejczyk

The division’s gold standard. Joanna holds the strawweight record with five successful title defenses and built an era defined by pace, precision, and champion-level composure.

2) Zhang Weili

A two-time champion with an all-time great run of big-fight wins—Zhang is tied for the most strawweight title-fight wins (6) and paired elite power with evolving grappling over multiple reigns.

3) Rose Namajunas

“Thug Rose” has the signature moments: she dethroned Joanna, later became the first woman to regain a UFC title, and proved she could win the belt in different eras and different styles of fights.

4) Carla Esparza

The foundation. Esparza won the inaugural UFC strawweight title and later added a second reign—making her one of the division’s defining champions across two different generations.

5) Jéssica Andrade

The division’s wrecking ball. Andrade captured strawweight gold at UFC 237 and stayed a threat at multiple weights because her pressure, strength, and willingness to trade made every matchup volatile.

6) Tatiana Suarez

A “what-if” talent who still earned her place. Suarez reached a title fight unbeaten, and even in her loss to Zhang, her climb and skill set (elite wrestling/grappling) helped define the division’s modern contender class.

7) Cláudia Gadelha

The rival who pushed the champ. Gadelha coached opposite Joanna on The Ultimate Fighter and challenged her for the belt, helping create one of strawweight’s first true rivalries—and proving the division was deeper than one dominant champion.

8) Yan Xiaonan

A longtime contender who broke through at the highest level, Yan earned a title shot and made history in a marquee matchup at UFC 300. Even without the belt, her consistency and elite striking have kept her in the division’s top tier.

9) Mackenzie Dern

The division’s current champion—and the best pure submission threat strawweight has ever had. Dern won the vacant title by beating Virna Jandiroba at UFC 321, and if she stacks defenses, she’ll climb this list fast.

Just missed: Amanda Lemos (title challenger) and Virna Jandiroba (recent title challenger with a long win streak) were right on the edge—both have been “one win away” fixtures at the top of the division.