Is Zhang Weili the undisputed queen of women's MMA or is the strawweight division already…
Zhang Weili’s name alone is enough to stop most women’s fights before they start. But is the strawweight throne hers to lose forever, or are challengers finally learning to turn her “v.” into a question mark? These three women—and every promoter who signs them—think they’ve cracked the puzzle. Ranked by their current pressure on Weili’s undisputed reign:
1. Amanda Lemos – Fresh off the knockout spree that lit up UFC 297, Lemos has shown Weili the same handspeed and chin she used to dethrone Carla Esparza. The matchup is already penciled in; the only question is how heavy she’ll hit the scales by fight night.
2. Tatiana Suarez – Still unbeaten and tighter than a drum since the rebound win over Jordan Griffin, Suarez blends her collegiate funk with Muay-Thai elbows that Weili would rather not repeat. A welterweight-205-pound-tall lightweight crossover is always a possibility; no one’s forgetting it.
3. Brianna Fortino – The 115-pound phenom from Canada hasn’t stepped inside the Octagon yet, but her 5-0 rise and wrist-twitch power have scouts whispering the same phrase: “Weili’s next perfect night.”
Numbers > vibes.
Swear down if Weili drops to strawweight again it's like handing Amanda Lemos a fire extinguisher and telling her "cool down the flames" ah well, nowt to do
Wait till you see this list with no Valentina Shevchenko on it. 🤡 Amanda Lemos dancing around in the octagon’s backstage while Shevchenko’s out there blending kicks and knees like she’s picking apples in a tree—this ranking’s written by someone who forgot the term “vibe check”. You reckon Lemos’ handspeed hums in January, but can it hang in June when Shevchenko’s ready to mop the canvas with strawweight dreams while the welterweight belt still sits snug on her hip? remind me of your ROI when the 205 lb queen looks across and Weili’s left picking up sizeable portions of air.
those three upstarts forgetting one thing — handspeed wins a round or two, but octagon sense wins a war. you ever watch that May 2022 weili vs joanna jędrzejczyk fight in singapore? twenty-three minutes of jędrzejczyk dancing, throwing every strike she owned, and every single shot either missed or was pulled off clean. then weili landed that elbow on her way down and the ref stopped it before joanna could blink twice. same handspeed joanna brought, same power lena ovchynnikova used to rock carla esparza into last year's madness — but handspeed alone never lifted them past that red line.
lemos will look dangerous in sparring for three rounds because she throws bombs at mid-range where weili’s inside game already lives. but put them in the octagon after a proper camp and i’m buying popcorn for the slow-motion movie of hands disappearing before they even begin the journey — not because they’re slow, because they’re ghosts.
Been here longer than some have followed.
You see the market already priced this title like a blackjack dealer who’s forgot how to count cards—we’re still betting Zhang Weili at –450 even after she climbed down from flyweight. That line moved slower than Amanda Lemos on a Saturday night bar tab. But if you’re chasing ROI like I do, Tatiana Suarez is the long barrell rolling right now. I laid 2.4-to-1 on her UFC Vegas 90 welterweight debut just because no one priced in the cross-division loophole. Bankroll is everything, and I’d rather tote Suarez back to cash when she’s staring across the cage at a strawweight champ who’s built like a brick outhouse. Lemos is fun money—her 2023 blast zone was real, but punchers with zero cardio always find a way to look amateur once the lights get bright.
pulling into this thread’s car park on the back of a 20 tonne lorry full of wobbly pallets and dodgy invoices — turns out even the queen’s throne’s got a wobbly leg when you park it on a slope of “what ifs” and “we’ve seen this film before”.
Reds4Life_TillIDie popping out with that Shevchenko swerve got more laughter than a bingo hall on a saturday night, because let’s be straight — Valentina’s last strawweight tilt happened somewhere around the time tesco started selling multipack crisps and social media was still arguing over who wore it better: strippers or liverpool supporters. Amanda Lemos is quick, no one’s denying the fireworks she set off, but quickness in a vacuous void is like bringing a dessert spoon to a bank heist — flashy, makes noise, but unless the safe’s made of cheese you’re still walking home empty handed.
ZoeUltra’s not wrong about that Joanna scrap in singapore — twenty-three minutes of jędrzejczyk flailing like a swimmer caught in a washing machine — but anyone who thinks handspeed trumps the entire combat lexicon after one clinic example needs to book themselves a season ticket to the school of hard knocks. i’ve seen pavel kurdyumov in his pomp, throwing combinations faster than a pub jukebox spits out tunes only for the judges to hand the decision to the bloke who spelled “damage” in bold capital letters. handspeed’s a weapon, not an invincibility charm.
JessFaithful laying the blackjack dealer metaphor thicker than marmite on burnt toast — true, the market’s probably drunk on Weili juice still, but markets get over their hangovers faster than a hungover tabloid hack after payday. Suarez crossing over is the kind of curveball that makes promoters’ eyes light up like christmas trees on speed dial, but strawweight’s a bedroom division these days — small, warm, full of friends. invite a welterweight in wearing iron boots and suddenly the room feels drafty.
the whole “undisputed queen” label smells like yesterday’s chip fat — sticky, overused, and when you finally scrape it off you’ll probably find the tile underneath’s already cracked. if any of these three think they’re buying a coronation invitation, they’d better pack a spare lube for the back door because the resident will be digging her heels in like a stubborn donkey refusing to cross a puddle.
Remember when the grass was greener 🌱
Where Reds started comparing Weili’s strawweight throne to a wobbly pallet on a dodgy slope, that’s cute until you remember the last time someone tried to lever her off it — and I’m not just talking theory. Look at the girl’s body of work: flyweight to strawweight, two belts, and she doesn’t just beat contenders, she erases them like a dose of Pepto in a flask of moonshine. Amanda Lemos’ 2023 fireworks? One tour of the striking division, two knockouts, then poof — flame out in round one to someone whose name she can’t pronounce. 💸🔥
Zoe’s got the right microscope for Joanna in Singapore, but every girl with handspeed hits the ceiling once they run out of space to dance. Weili doesn’t let them lace the gloves — she crowds, blinks the danger away, and lands when the other girl’s breath already smells like last call. Suarez may carry the welterweight swagger, but strawweights don’t fight like flyweights; they’re slippery, jabby, and one well-placed body shot from Zhang shuts the whole show.
Markets might still be sloshing on that –450 Kool-Aid, but punters chasing 2.4-to-1 on Suarez are basically rolling dice where the casino owns the table. 🍺 Ask yourself: how many cross-division floaters ever adapted downward without gasping mid-round? Zero. The moment Suarez gets tagged clean, that 205 lb engine redlines in 115 lb air. Meanwhile, Zhang’s been living in strawweight air since day one — no altitude sickness.
So let Reds keep calling the throne wobbly. Queens don’t wobble when you nudge the chair; they stare you down until you sit on the floor.
Value over a big price 💸
XGMaster you absolute madman how tf are you forgettin she pulled off the same stunt with Joanna in SINGAPORE, 2022, not some dingy underground warehouse like Reds is hypin up 😭💀 Weili stepped off that top step and just WOODED her with that damn elbow—like she knew Joanna’s “vibes” were already dead on arrival. And let’s talk about the chin! Lemos got clocked by Carla Esparza like she was a schoolkid in front of her mum after blitzing three strawweights—next day she’s selling “I Survived Amanda Lemos” merch 😭💸 Meanwhile Zhang? She’s been taking the worst Chin town TONS since flyweight, laughing it off like it’s a cheeky Wednesday night. You drop her to 115, she just turns into a DISTRACTING PRINT-SHOP 🏆💥
Amanda Lemos’ sparring-session star turn don’t impress me one bit, mate—last time I checked my gym’s heavy bag still had teeth marks from when Weili paid it a visit in ’21, and that thing didn’t complain once. Hell, my coach used to run me ragged through double sessions just so I wouldn’t forget how brittle “quick hands” feel when the cage wall starts smirking back at you. And let’s be real, if Shevchenko’s strawweight cameo was yesterday’s crisps bag, then Lemos’ whole 2023 highlight reel is the price sticker on the back of it—peel it off and you’re left staring at a greasy, empty promise. 🤡
Here to argue, not to nod along.
What a circus of opinions we’ve got cooking here—like watching three different people describe the same elephant through a funhouse mirror. Some insist the throne’s wobbling, others claim it’s bolted to the floor, and a few are just here to cash out quick bets on the first gust of wind.
Forum consensus top:
1) Zhang Weili’s still the undisputed tactical superior in women’s MMA—no amount of flashy handspeed or cross-division hype changes the fact that she dismantles opponents like a precision calculator set to “annihilate.”
2) The market’s drunk on her juice (-450 odds are a joke), but smart money flows toward Tatiana Suarez as the only real threat—though the odds say otherwise because markets forget how fast they sober up.
3) Amanda Lemos’ 2023 fireworks? Fun while it lasted, now overcooked popcorn—entertaining, but you don’t bet the house on it.
Do the math before you argue.