By T.P. Grant

Mixed Martial Arts can be a difficult sport to follow at times, to all but the most hardcore of followers of the sport it can seem a confusing mess of weight classes and champions. The UFC roster currently sits at over 500 fighters, not to mention the thousands of fighters outside of the promotion, so it’s understandable to have a hard time keeping so many names straight.

So to help with that, FloCombat is going to run down each UFC weight class and highlighting fighters that the new or casual MMA fan should be watching.
The Women’s Strawweight division is the newest weight class in the UFC, it was introduced in 2014 with a season of the Ultimate Fighter used to crown the first champion. Previously to that the all women MMA promotion Invicta FC was home to the best Strawweight division. A large portion of the Invicta roster, including their champion Carla Esparza, participated on the show and crossed over to the UFC. The division is growing and has proved to deeper of the two women’s weight classes. Here are few to keep an eye on as the division continues to grow.

Joanna Jedrzejczyk

The first Polish champion in UFC history, Joanna Jedrzejczyk was a multiple time European and World Muay Thai champion before crossing over to MMA. She stated her MMA career in 2012 but she really burst on to Strawweight scene in 2014 with a knockout of Rosi Sexton, which earned her ticket to the UFC. It only took wins for Joanna to receive a title shot against the former Invicta and then UFC Champion Carla Esparza. Joanna made quick work of Esparza, earning a TKO victory in just 2 rounds.  Since then Jedrzejczyk has defended her title twice and is looking like should could become one the UFC’s dominant champions.

Joanna is a venomous striker on the feet and she has become a very adapt counter grappler. Up until her last fight Joanna has made use of mostly just her punches and clinch fighting, but as she has become a more confident wrestler her kicks have started becoming a bigger and bigger feature of her MMA game. Joanna’s next title defense is against Claudia Gadelha, who gave Joanna her stiffest test in the UFC, and it will be a fight that tests the Champion’s improved grappling. Should Jedrzejczyk repeat her victory over Gadelha she will be set up to rule the Strawweight division for years to come.

Claudia Gadelha

Training out the famed Nova Uniao, Claudia Gadelha is the youngest fighter ever to be awarded a black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu by that prestigious camp. Gadelha had a hard childhood, and in her teens her parents relocated to Natal get her away from the gang violence and rampant drug use, and it was there that she first began to train. Gadelha kept a secret from her parents at first, she used martial arts training as a way to break from her old life and have a productive focus.  Gadelha competed in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu competitions and then in 2008 made her pro MMA debut.

In 2013 when Invicta introduced their Strawweight division, Gadelha competed there and then moved on to the UFC. In December of 2014 she lost a very close decision in a three round fight with Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Gadelha has since watched Joanna go on to become champion, and has been campaigning for a rematch. With a win last summer Gadelha earned that shot and filmed a season of The Ultimate Fighter as a coach opposite Jedrzejczyk.

Gadelha brings with her a very Nova Uniao skill set, she is dangerous striker on the feet with a primarily Muay Thai base. The Brazilian flavor of Muay Thai tends feature a great deal more aggression and heavy use of knees and low kicks to wear down opponents. Gadelha is a fairly offensively minded wrestler as well, she has good size for the division and uses it well in cage grappling, and on the mat Gadelha is a skilled submission grappler. She likely represents the best chance to beat Joanna currently in the division, and could become a viable rival for the current Champion moving forward.

Rose Namajunas

Rose “Thug” Namajunas might not look like much of a fighter at first glance, but she is likely the grittiest and meanest fighter in the Strawweight division. At just 23 years of age, Namajunas is just two years into her pro fighting career and has shown great promise. She started her martial arts training at age 5 in Taekwondo and in her teen began training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in addition to wrestling in high school.

Rose has developed a high flying style that features flashy strikes and dynamic, risky submissions on the mat. Her first break out performance was an amazing 12 second win by flying armbar in Invicta. That level of aggression has cost her before, but in her last two fights Thug Rose has paired her flair for the dramatic with a more solid, fundamental base that looks to make her a formidable fighter. Namajunas returns to action this April, looking to avenge a loss from Invicta against Tecia Torres. As always you can look for Rose’s fiancé, retired UFC fighter and kickboxer Pat Barry, to be her corner come fight night, the two of them being one of the sport’s more beloved couples for their shared eccentricities.

Carla Esparza

The former Invicta and UFC Strawweight Champion, Carla Esparza has been sidelined by shoulder surgery since her loss to Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Esparza was a high school wrestler and won several high profile tournaments before moving on to college to wrestle. While in college Esparza also began to train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the Torrance Gracie Academy, and from there began training MMA with Team Oyama. She made her pro MMA debut in 2010 and in 2013 she became the inaugural Invicta Strawweight Champion and then went on to win the Ultimate Fighter to become the inaugural UFC Strawweight Champion. And despite all she has accomplished, Esparza is still a young fighter in a young division, she is set to be an elite fighter for years to come and if the UFC ever introduces an Atomweight division could also make the cut down to 105-lbs as well.