Women’s MMAEditor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media.
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Weili Zhang absolutely sliced through Tatiana Suarez—who was supposed to be her biggest challenge—in what was expected to be a competitive UFC 312 co-main event. Outside of being controlled for a large chunk of the opening round, Zhang managed to avoid being at the disadvantage at any point, handing Suarez her first career loss in lopsided fashion. For many, it was a stamp on Zhang’s legacy as the greatest strawweight in MMA history. Are we sure she’s the GOAT at 115 pounds?
I won’t shame a single person who believes Zhang is the strawweight GOAT. She has a fantastic resume. A two-time champion, Zhang has wins over three of the other four women who have reigned over the division: Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Jessica Andrade and Carla Esparza. One of those victories—in her first contest against Jedrzejczyk—came in one of the greatest fights in MMA history. In the eyes of many, it was the greatest fight in women’s MMA history. She also continues to improve, looking like the best version of herself against Suarez despite being 35, an age at which most strawweights have passed their prime. However, there’s a big monkey wrench in any GOAT argument: Rose Namajunas.
Despite all her wins outside of the classic against Jedrzejczyk
being clear-cut—and downright dominant in most cases—Zhang went
0-for-2 against Namajunas, the only former champion on her resume
she hasn’t defeated. Namajunas sent Zhang into the netherworld in
their first meeting in just 78 seconds, landing a brutal head kick
that brought a sudden and dramatic end to the Chinese star’s first
reign. Their immediate rematch was a nip-and-tuck affair that could
have gone either way, but the judges ruled in favor of
Namajunas.
While I won’t shame anyone who declares Zhang as the strawweight GOAT, it’s also very hard for me to completely sign off on granting her that status when she’s down 2-0 to one of her divisional contemporaries. Namajunas may not have the cleanest record—her 9-4 UFC mark at 115 pounds pales in comparison to 10-2 for Zhang—but half of those losses can be attributed to youth and inexperience. When Namajunas lost to Karolina Kowalkiewicz in 2016, she had just barely turned 24 and was competing in just her eighth professional bout. Context matters in these discussions, and it’s clear Namajunas wasn’t who she was going to become at that stage. After all, Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls lost to the Detroit Pistons three times before he came into his own.
It’s also hard to definitively label Namajunas as the GOAT. While her status as a two-time champion matches what Zhang has done, she only has two successful defenses in comparison to the four for “Magnum.” However, most damaging would probably be the all-time stinker of a showing Namajunas delivered in her second encounter with Esparza. Namajunas did a whole lot of nothing in that rematch, essentially handing Esparza her second reign on a silver platter. That came at a time when it appeared Namajunas was at the height of her powers. While I don’t blame Namajunas for being tired of cutting weight, her leaving the division following that flat performance means the final impression she left on the division was exceptionally unpleasant. It’s one thing to have an off-night—some contest Zhang had an off-night in her defense against Xiaonan Yan, even though she managed to retain her title in the process—but Namajunas absolutely crapped the bed. In the process, she left open the door for Jedrzejczyk to maintain her status, which is crazy considering she has two losses to both Zhang and Namajunas.
Much like Zhang, Jedrzejczyk saw her title reign come to a quick and sudden end at the hands of Namajunas in the first round, only to lose their rematch in a much more competitive affair. Jedrzejczyk’s second contest with Zhang resulted in a lopsided loss and led to her retirement. So how could anyone claim Jedrzejczyk is the GOAT? It’s complicated but plausible.
As dominant as Zhang has been in her second title reign, Jedrzejczyk lorded over the division with a swagger that has been unmatched. In fact, there are few champions in any division, male or female, who have proven to be scarier than Jedrzejczyk over the course of her five title defenses. When Jedrzejczyk first won the belt in early 2015, there was a question of how to pronounce her last name. She wryly told everyone to just call her “Joanna Champion.” The moniker sticks to this day. Marketing does matter in these things. While Jedrzejczyk was merely 30 when she lost her belt to Namajunas, she already had a full muay thai career under her belt prior to crossing over to MMA, having competed in that field for a decade. Jedrzejczyk accumulated a lot of damage in combat sports, and it’s reasonable to assume she was already past her prime by the time her first battle with Namajunas rolled around. Plus, we have to consider the manner in which Jedrzejczyk thoroughly outclassed Esparza and Andrade—the two other women who have held the UFC women’s strawweight crown.
I understand the argument against the quality of competition Jedrzejczyk faced, as two of her title defenses came against Jessica Penne and Valerie Letourneau—two of the more questionable UFC title challengers in any division over the last 20 or so years. However, Jedrzejczyk was beating those placed before her and doing so in rapid fashion. Her five defenses came in a span of less than two years. If one were to weigh the activity of a champion, Jedrzejczyk runs circles around both Namajunas and Zhang.
While there isn’t a definitive argument for any of the three ladies, there’s good arguments for all of them. What Zhang has to her advantage is that she’s the only one of the three still active in the division and building upon her legacy. Thus, while I’m not sure Zhang carries the GOAT mantle yet, I can’t help but believe she’ll eventually get there before she’s done. Check back with me in about a year, and there’s a good chance I’ll have a much stronger opinion. Then again, we’re talking about the sport of MMA—a sport where things can change in a split second and Matt Serra defeating Georges St. Pierre actually happened.
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