These are the Pro MMA Now women’s strawweight rankings for May 2016.

joanna jedrzejczyk

1. Joanna Jedrzejczyk (11-0)

Joanna has completed a year as a champion. She has had two successful title defenses. Her last brawl put an end to her knockout streak but Joanna showed a display of chiseled striking. She had an amazing 2015 by winning the strawweight title then went on defend the belt against Jessica Penne and Valérie Létourneau. She is now a coach on The Ultimate Fighter season 23 against rival Claudia Gadelha. The duo is set to clash at the Finale in July.

claudia gadelha

2. Claudia Gadelha (13-1)

Claudia lost her perfect record to Joanna back in late 2014. It looks like she has just turned out to be more savage and angry after her loss and showed a display of a perfect and deadly game when she destroyed Jessica Aguilar at UFC 190. This victory earned her a title shot and a coaching spot opposite Joanna on TUF 23. The duo is set to square off at the finale of the season.

jessica aguilar

3. Jessica Aguilar (19-5)

A 10-fight winning streak came to an end for the former World Series of Fighting champion as she met the angry Claudia Gadelha in her octagon debut last August. Jessica had been unbeaten since 2011 and held victories over Carla Esparza and Megumi Fujii among others. She however could not stand up to Claudia Gadelha as she lost the fight via unanimous decision at UFC 190. She was supposed to meet Julianna Lima at UFC 197 but ended up tearing her ACL and was forced to withdraw from the match.

carla esparza

4. Carla Esparza (11-3)

Carla Esparza returned to the octagon at UFC 197 following her loss of the UFC strawweight title to Joanna. Carla is both a former and inaugural strawweight champion for UFC as well as Invicta FC. She defeated Juliana Lima via unanimous decision at UFC 197 coming in as late replacement for Jessica Aguilar. Carla was sidelined because of a shoulder injury and the TUF 20 winner is actively looking for a new opponent.

rose namajunas

5. Rose Namajunas (5-2)

Rose Namajunas made her presence felt when she thrashed Paige VanZant back in December 2015. She then faced Tecia Torres in a rematch in April and won the fight via unanimous decision. Since losing to Carla Esparza back in 2014 “Thug” has been unstoppable with consecutive victories over Angela Hill, Tecia Torres and Paige VanZant. She now stands with an impressive octagon record of 3-1 and is actively looking for a title shot.

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6. Karolina Kowalkiewicz (9-0)

Poland’s Karolina Kowalkiewicz made her long awaited octagon debut this past December against Randa Markos and did not disappoint anybody as she won the fight via unanimous decision. She then faced Heather Jo Clark on May 8 and again won the fight via unanimous decision. Now 2-0 in the octagon Karolina has shown a display of dominating and quick striking. The former KSW champion is now very close to a title shot.

valerie letourneau

7. Valerie Letourneau (8-4)

“Trouble” suffered her first octagon loss when she faced Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 193. She however proved to be Joanna’s strongest opponent since she became the strawweight champion. Valerie now stands with a UFC record of 3-1 and is set to clash Joanne Calderwood on June 18 in the first-ever women’s 125-pound fight in the UFC.

maryna moroz

8. Maryna Moroz (7-1)

Maryna Moroz rebounded from her loss to Valerie Letourneau as she defeated Cristina Stanciu with a decision victory in Croatia in April. The 23-year-old Ukranian gave a huge upset when she defeated Joanne Calderwood a year earlier, however the loss to Valerie blemished her perfect record. The Ukrainian boxer now stands with an octagon record of 2-1.

tecia torres

9. Tecia Torres (7-1)

Tecia Torres lost her perfect record to Rose Namajunas in a rematch in April via unanimous decision. Tecia was a part of The Ultimate Fighter season 20 but was beaten in the quarterfinals by Carla Esparza. The loss to Esparza did not affect her professional record and “Tiny Tornado” has gone on to put together a UFC record of 3-1.

angela hill

10. Angela Hill (5-2)

Angela did not have a good 2015 as she suffered back-to-back losses at the hands of Rose Namajunas and Tecia Torres in the UFC. She rebounded from those losses in 2016 by going to Invicta FC and winning three straight fights, including knockouts of Alida Grey and Stephanie Eggink. Hill then captured the Invicta FC strawweight title earlier this month by defeating formerly unbeaten Livia Renata Souza.

-Paarth Pande
(@PandePaarth)

Be sure to check out our Pro MMA Now women’s bantamweight rankings for May.

One thought on “Pro MMA Now women’s strawweight rankings”
  1. Top contenders: Paige VanZant, Livia Renata Souza, Justin Kish and Alexa Grasso

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