After the conclusion of the TUF 20 Finale last weekend, which culminated with Carla Esparza being crowned as the UFC’s inaugural strawweight champion, the official top 15 rankings for the 115lb division have now been compiled.
Despite most of the attention being on the TUF show competitors, the top two spots on the rankings list are actually taken up by two fighters who weren’t a part of the show, but did compete at UFC On FOX 13 on Saturday night.
Joanna Jedrzejczyk takes the top spot and has been confirmed as the first challenger for Esparza’s title after a controversial split decision win over Claudia Gadelha.
Despite her defeat Gadhela holds down the No.2 spot on the rankings which seems fair as a number of observers believed she had done enough to win the fight, and indeed her camp are currently appealing the judges decision.
TUF 20 fighter Jessica Penne is now ranked at No.3 in the division after an impressive official UFC debut on Friday night in which she showed off some of the best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the weight class en-route to a split decision win against Randa Markos(No.7).
Defeated TUF 20 finalist Rose Namajunas comes in at No.4 and at just 22 years of age she certainly has the potential to be a fixture in the top end of the rankings for years to come.
Rounding out the top 5 is Tecia Torres who bounced back from a loss to eventually champion Esparza in the TUF house to win her official UFC debut via a on-sided decision victory against Angela Magana.
One of the show’s other notable contenders Joanne Calderwood debuts at No.6 in the rankings following a unanimous decision victory against newcomer Seo Hee Ham (No.15).
Women’s Strawweight Rankings:
Champion : Carla Esparza
1 Joanna Jedrzejczyk
2 Claudia Gadelha
3 Jessica Penne
4 Rose Namajunas
5 Tecia Torres
6 Joanne Calderwood
7 Randa Markos
8 Felice Herrig
9 Aisling Daly
10 Heather Clark
11 Paige VanZant
12 Juliana Lima
13 Angela Hill
14 Bec Rawlings
15 Seohee Ham
