The age old debate has always been, which weight class in the UFC is the best? Granted, there are a lot of different factors that come into question when considering this question and we’re going to provide you with the answer as things stand. We’re going to focus on the female weight classes and try to find out which one is best.
We’re going to consider three key things:
First: Quality of champion and potential title fights
Second: Overall excitement for upcoming fights
Third: The future of the division
Our rankings will go from the worst weight class to the best weight class.
Ranking The UFC Women’s Weight Classes
Women’s Bantamweight
Quality of champion: 6/10
Raquel Pennington is more than deserving of being the champion. She’s enjoying a six fight winning run, however, only one of those six victories have been finishes. There’s little to no chance that Pennington will headline a PPV on her own, there would need to be a viable contender facing her for the 135lbs title. Potential title fights include a potentially huge match-up with the new girl in the division, Kayla Harrison which could be massive for the division, get eyes on the division and breath new life into it.
Overall excitement for upcoming fights: 3/10
The reason that this score is so low is that there is just one fight booked between ranked fighters. Granted, the fight itself isn’t a bad one as former title challenger, Mayra Bueno Silva meets Macy Chiasson but to only have a single fight booked for anyone ranked in the top 15 isn’t a good look for women’s 135lbs.
Mayra Bueno Silva will fight Macy Chiasson at #UFC303 on June 29th. #UFC #MMA #UFCESPN #UFC2024 #IFW2024 pic.twitter.com/08MIGA630L
— Marcel Dorff 🇳🇱🇮🇩 (@BigMarcel24) April 23, 2024
Future of the division: 6/10
Average. This score is based on the potential of Harrison getting a title shot, which isn’t guaranteed. There’s a chance that we’ll see Harrison face Ketlen Vieira or the former champion, Juliana Pena, which are both exciting fights. Irene Aldana is also an exciting entity at 135lbs and the potential return of the GWOAT, Amanda Nunes is also exciting. With that being said, women’s bantamweight is devoid of young up and coming stars.
Women’s Strawweight
Quality of champion: 9/10
There’s no doubt that Zhang Weili is one of the best champions in the UFC. She’s dominant, likeable and consistently puts on entertaining displays. The difficulty for Zhang is that she’s almost cleared out the division already. There are two viable contenders on the brink. Virna Jandiroba and Tatiana Suarez are those two women, however, it’s highly unlikely that a fight between Zhang and Jandiroba would be competitive. Suarez is an extremely interesting question for the Chinese star to answer, however.
Overall excitement for upcoming fights: 4/10
Although, unlike the bantamweight division there actually are some fights booked at 115lbs, they aren’t going to have a huge affect on the top of the division. #15 Gillian Robertson is scheduled against #14 Michelle Waterson-Gomez. #11 Tabatha Ricci is set to clash with the returning Tecia Pennington (formerly Tecia Torres) and the extremely active, Angela Hill will compete against Luana Pinheiro. With that being said, none of these fights are likely to worry anyone inside the top five of the division.
Future of the division: 7/10
The future of the 115lbs division is certainly brighter than that of the 135lbs division. Ricci, Lupita Godinez, Robertson, Pinheiro, Yazmin Jauregui and Victoria Dudakova are likely to be the future of the division and it will be surprising if at least two of those women don’t hold the belt at some point.
Women’s Flyweight
Quality of champion: 7/10
It’s abundantly clear that the women’s flyweight division is the most competitive, exciting and overall best division in the UFC. The champion, Alexa Grasso has worked her way up to the top of the division, defeating the dominant champion in emphatic fashion. She then defended her belt, albeit to a draw in the rematch. The two women are set to meet in a trilogy fight after they compete against each other in the upcoming series of TUF, which is a logical, exciting fight yet again.
Overall excitement for upcoming fights: 3/10
We have to be consistent with this, as we were with the bantamweight division. There’s only one fight booked featuring women in the top 15. Viviane Araujo and Jasmine Jasudavicius will clash on July 13th, although the Canadian sits just outside of the rankings.
Future of the division: 8/10
The future of the 125lbs division is exciting. After Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko meet for a third time, there’s a logical next match-up for who ever holds the belt. Manon Fiorot is next, no ifs, buts or maybes, the Frenchwoman is next in line. She’s earned it, deserves it and without a doubt will pose a tough test for whoever wins the trilogy.
Elsewhere, Erin Blanchfield, Maycee Barber, Miranda Maverick, Natalia Silva, Tracy Cortez, Casey O’Neill, Veronica Hardy, Tereza Bleda and Luana Santos all have high ceilings in the division, can all one day mix it at the top of the division and there could easily be a number of competitive bouts between the women in the near future.
