Ranking all 5 UFC women's strawweight champions

#4. Zhang Weili - China's first UFC champion

Weili first won the championship on August 31, 2019

Zhang Weili won the UFC strawweight title by defeating Jessica Andrade in round one of their title fight. She ranks higher because she has one more successful title defense than Andrade. This came against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in what is considered the greatest fight in women's MMA history.

The split decision victory over Jedrzejczyk was incredibly close but it appeared to set Weili up for a long reign atop the division. She was on a 21-fight win streak when she faced Rose Namajunas in her second title defense. Namajunas won the fight via a first-round headkick knockout that ended the Chinese fighter's run as champion.

Weili was then granted an immediate rematch and while the second fight was much closer, she once again fell short, this time via a narrow split decision. However, if she is to win her next fight which is a rematch against Jedrzejczyk, she will likely be given another shot at winning strawweight gold.

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#3. Carla Esparza - first strawweight champion in UFC history

Esparza first won the championship on December 12 2014

Carla Esparza may not yet have a successful title defense but she comes in at the third spot due to the fact that she is currently holding the belt for the second time. Esparza's first run with the belt came on the back of season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter, where she competed for the inaugural strawweight championship.

She defeated Rose Namajunas via third-round submission to become the first champion in the division's history. She then lost the belt in her next bout against Joanna Jedrzejczyk. What followed was a very lengthy journey back to the title.

The journey finally reached its end last month when Esparza once again defeated Namajunas to win the title for a second time. With her expected to face the winner of the upcoming Weili vs. Jedrzejczyk rematch, she will look to finally pick up her first successful title defense.