MMA
Who is the Current UFC Women's Strawweight Champion?
Zhang Weili’s impact on MMA in China is nothing short of transformative. As China’s first UFC champion, she’s ignited widespread interest in MMA, inspiring a generation of young athletes and boosting the sport’s popularity across the country.
Image Credit: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Zhang Weili is the current UFC women's strawweight champion, and she recently successfully defended her belt for the second consecutive time, at UFC 300, against fellow Chinese fighter Xiaonan Yan.
Since losing back-to-back fights against Rose Namajunas in 2021, Weili has kicked on and won four fights in a row, which has seen her capture the 115-pounds title and defend it twice, with two of her last four fights coming via stoppages.
It's crazy to think that Weili began her professional MMA career back in 2013, when she was just 24 years old, where she lost on her debut. After regrouping, Weili went on to steamroll her opponents on the Chinese MMA circuit, winning her next 16 fights before signing for the UFC.
Fast forward 11 years from her debut and she has written her name in the history books of the UFC as being one of the best fighters ever to come from the continent of Asia.
Zhang Weili is the first Chinese fighter to ever hold a UFC title. She first won the title in 2019 after knocking out Jessica Andrade in less than 60 seconds. No other fighter from China are yet to win UFC gold.
Paving the Way For Chinese MMA and Breaking Stereotypes
When Weili became the first Chinese champion in UFC history in 2019, this put China on the map in the sport of MMA. Since then, fighters such as Xiaonan Yan, Wu Yanan, Song Yadong and Li Jingliang have improved the reputation of China MMA in the UFC, proving that MMA is not just a Western sport.
Even to this day, some fans of MMA refuse to watch female fights because they think they are boring and drag on into a decision victory for either side. However, Zhang Weili helped break that stereotype. Out of her 25 victories, only six of them are decisions.
Weili really proved the “women's fights are boring” crowd wrong at UFC 248 when she brutally beat up Joanna Jedrzejczyk to defend her UFC strawweight title during her first reign. Images of the Polish fighter after the fight went viral because of how swollen and bloody her face had become due to the precision and power from Weili's striking.
Every Female Strawweight Champion in UFC History
The female strawweight division has only been around for 10 years, so the number of champions are quite small, nevertheless, here is a list of every champion from the 115-pounds weight class.
Carla Esparza: First Ever UFC Strawweight Champion
The first champion in the women's UFC strawweight division was Carla Esparza. She defeated Rose Namajunas in 2014 via a rear naked choke, although, she failed in her first title defence when Joanna Jedrzejczyk claimed a TKO victory in the second round against her.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk: The Greatest Strawweight Fighter of All Time
Joanna Jedrzejczyk is often considered the greatest strawweight fighter of all time because of her dominance inside the octagon, and her fun fighting style pleased fans which helped put the female strawweight division on the map.
The Polish fighter was superior to all comers between 2015 and 2017, as she defended her strawweight belt five times.
Rose Namajunas: The Young Blood
Rose Namajunas became the UFC strawweight champion in her 10th MMA fight, knocking out the dominant champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the first round at UFC 217. “Thug Rose” successfully defended her belt in an immediate rematch, but she lost her title in brutal fashion in the following fight against Jessica Andrade.
Two years after losing her title, she regrouped to become the strawweight champion once more in 2021. But after one successful defence again, she failed in her second attempt, and this prompted a move up to flyweight in 2023.
Jessica Andrade: The Powerhouse
With Rose Namajunas showcasing excellent striking skills as the champion, heading into UFC 237, Jessica Andrade knew her best way to win the belt, in her home country of Brazil, was to wrestle Namajunas. Andrade was able to use her wrestling skills to land a vicious KO via a slam in the second round of the fight.
Andrade wasn't the champion for long though as she was knocked out a few months later, just 42 seconds into her defence, against Zhang Weili.
Zhang Weili: The Current Champion
Zhang Weili won the title for the first time in 2019, and after her performance in her first defence, destroying Jedrzejczyk's face, many thought we were going to see an era of dominance. However, two consecutive losses in 2021 to Rose Namajunas followed.
Since landing an explosive spinning backfist KO against Joanna Jedrzejczyk at UFC 275, Weili has looked on another level to her strawweight counterparts. She reclaimed the title with a submission win over Carla Esparza in 2022, subsequently cruising to back-to-back unanimous decision wins in her two title defences. Now, we could be in the midst of a dominant era from the Chinese champion.
Jake Staniland is a sports writer who excels in covering a wide range of sports: football, combat sports and the NFL - All three subjects are his lifelong passions.
Jake is a boyhood Sheffield United fan, which is often a curse that he thanks his family for. His favourite Blades player ever is Billy Sharp